The Hunter
by MrShaunL
Summary: Shane is the son of a retired hunter. His father wants nothing more than for him to be a hunter with him. He doesn't like the thought of hurting creatures.. But all of that changes when the worst happens to his family. With nothing but anger and the tools left to him by his Pa, he takes off to join The Guild to honor his father. This is his story. (Reviews appreciated.)
1. Ch 1: The Makings of a Hunter

How Did I Get This Far?

I'll see it every now and then. I hate going there, because its all I can think about. Pieces of the past, my beginnings. I wasn't always like this you know. I had a family. I didn't even want to do this when I started, but as it turns out; its what I was made to do. Just like my old man.

...

"Shane! Get out of there! Do you have any idea what that is?" Yelled my pa. I didn't know what the big deal was.. I always liked the little bugs. I liked how big their butts got after they ate a mushroom. Then they would waddle back under their log. They always made me laugh.  
"Those things can kill you! what would ma think?" He was right, ma didn't like the creatures. I guess that's just how she was raised. She was born in a small village in the sandy plains. She met my father when he was on a mission from the guild. "Slay a Querpecco" I believe it was called. They always liked that story. He got so burned, he had to be carted out of there by those cat things. Feynes I think. Ma was the daughter of the villages doctor. Apparently as soon as my he woke up, he saw my ma and left immediately to 'slay the creature' to impress her. He didn't even let them try to heal his burns.. Idiot. That's why hes covered in scars now. Ah well, it worked out. That little story at least explains my mothers flintstone necklace. Something about how 'our love burns more fearsome than my flesh.' Kinda warped. Sorta gross.

We lived under a big tree next to a large cliff on some island. It didn't even have a name, so they just called it, "The Deserted Island." Ma liked it there, nice and cool she would always say. Not many large monster either. My father still did some minor things for The Guild for some money, but nothing too dangerous. For my mother, she worried about him. If it was something easy, like someone needed mushrooms for a local doctor for medicines or mining for certain ore, he would take me along. I liked going with him, he never seemed as happy as when he was helping other people. He would take a cart with him, it slowed him down, but he said he needed the exercise, sometimes if we were out too late, he would let me sleep in the back on the way home. He would always make these weird meowing sounds and tease me about failing my mission and pretending he was a Felyne taking me someplace safe.. I never liked that very much, but it made him laugh so I put up with it.

Sometimes at night I could hear Ma and Pa arguing...  
"You shouldn't take him out there, what if you get ambushed? its never actually safe out there you know.." Ma would say,  
"Oh you shouldn't worry," Pa responded with a nervous laugh, "I still have my old sword just in case!"  
I heard nothing after that for a few minutes.  
"The fact that you even take that old thing with you is why I get nervous.."  
She was right, sometimes just playing in the garden I would see large shadows dart across our yard. Ma would always run outside and drag me back in and set me against the wall away from the windows. Half the time they were just clouds on a windy day..

It was such a nice day.. Pa was going to collect some kelbi horns for some lady across the sea. It must have been a good job, cuz he was whistling the whole way up the trail. I liked seeing him happy like this. A bump on the trail knocked back the cloth covering the wagon to reveal some of his supplies. One thing in particular caught my eye. It had a handle like a sword, but where the blade would be was something that looked like a black metal that was just taken out of a smithing oven, it was still red hot.  
"Pa, whats this?" I said reaching for the handle.  
"Don't touch that!" He he yelled slapping my hand away. I was shocked and scared, I could feel my eyes start to tear up but acted like it didnt bother me.  
"I'm sorry Shane, that's very dangerous.. Its my old sword called a Djinn. If you touch it wrong, it could.. Well it wouldn't feel very good. Just promise me that you wont touch that okay? I don't need your ma badgering me anymore than she already does." He explained with a laugh.  
"okay pa," I said. I wasnt understood why he was nervous, he just wanted me to be safe. I whipped the tears out of my eyes, "I promise.  
"Atta boy, he said messing up my hair, "Now how would you like to learn how to cut off a kelbis horns without hurting them?"

*BONG* His shield made a funny sound when he popped out of the bushes and knocked the little green deer in the head.  
"What the Hell pa? You said you wouldnt hurt them?"  
Ohh hes fine. Just a little tap to make him sleepy. And dont swear." he said bending over the Kelbi. "Now c'mere, let me show you something"  
I walked over to him, starring at the kelbi. It was still breathing.. Thank goodness.  
"Here, I got you something" he said reaching behind his back. "Its a hunting knife, you use it to.. Borrow things from the animals."  
It just looked at it. I hated things that caused harm to other creatures.. It was a large knife, carved bone for the handle and some strange blue metal for the blade. It seemed to almost glow. At the base of the hilt was a small carving that I couldnt quite see.  
"What is this for?.." I asked.  
"I made this for you, I made it myself! look down here, it has your name on it! I even made the blade out of some mechalite I found the other day."  
"It doesnt look like yours.." I said carefully reaching for the knife, "What would I even use this for?"  
He could see I was afraid of it, so he slid it back in its case with a satisfying click and handed it to me.  
"Yeah, I know its not like mine, but thats because I made it with you in mind. My pa made me my knife and same with his pa. Its sort of a tradition we have. Plus, mine kinda sucks. Its getting really dull. Yours wont have that problem." He said with a grin  
"But what is it for?" I asked again, still confused.  
"For when you become a hunter of course! You come from a long line of hunters and you wouldnt wanna disappoint now would you?" he said raising an bushy eyebrow.  
"N-no i dont want that.." I said clutching the small blade "I love it, thank you" faking a smile.. I would just keep it with me. I wont ever use it.  
There was a rustle in the bushes. I didnt notice at first  
"Atta boy, now lets carve this sucker up" said pa.  
I saw something dart out of the corner of my eye. Pa saw it too, he stopped smirking and stared dead ahead. Listening.  
"What.. is that? Pa whats going on.." i started to get nervous. Ive never seen him like this.  
"Shane" He said sternly, "I want you to run home." We were a good hour or two walk away from our house.  
"But pa wh-"  
"Get going!" He yelled at me as he ran for his cart, "Do as youre told and youll be fine!"  
He was just a few feet away from the cart when It jumped on him, knocking him back further away. It was a Great Jaggi, I know this because of his hunting reports. It was big, almost five times my size.  
As he held its mouth shut keeping it from biting his chest, all I could see him mouthing the words "Run. Run" I couldnt hear anything. I couldnt move. I was so afraid I dropped my knife.  
As it hit the ground, *Click* the blade got knocked out of its case, almost glowing in the sun. The Jaggi had one of pa's arms pinned now, leaving him with nothing more than his right hand to try to hit. Pa wrapped his legs around the creatures neck, drawing it closer to him, with his free hand, he punched the monster in its eye, causing it to close and let out a yelp. It jumped off of him and rubbed its eye.  
Pa got up and started to run towards me, still telling me to run, but the jaggi swiped him with his tail, knocking him into a log, causing more distance between us.  
I snapped out of it, "Pa! I yelled! Come on! We need to go home for dinner!" I yelled choking back tears, he couldnt hear me. he was unconscious.  
The jaggi walking toward him, drooling.  
Is this all im good for? Crying? He gave me this knife to be brave hunter like him and all I can do is sit here like a baby in a pool of my own tears.. No. I'm better than this, for once Pa could use my help. And that's when I saw it. On the ground next to the cart. Pa Djinn. I ran to it and snatched it from the ground. It let out an explosion of flames, causing me to drop it and scream in pain. It burned my hand, pretty bad.  
I looked over to notice the Jaggi letting out a roar above my pa and then looking down letting its drool pour over his chest and face.  
There was no time to cry now, I gathered up my shirt into a bunch and grabbed the handle.  
It was so warm, but it didn't explode this time. I set it carefully in my good hand.  
"Hey!" I yelled. The Jaggi turned to look at me.  
"Leave him alone you bastard!" I screamed at him. Then rearing back, i threw the sword. Ive never thrown anything so hard in my life. It flew through the air making some sort of a metallic whistle.  
It came down directly on the beasts forehead with a loud boom. Fire and blood flew everywhere, even the frill on its neck burned and got covered in holes. Letting out a yelp and falling back, the Jaggi stumbled  
"Holy shit." I muttered. I didn't think that could cause that much damage.. The Jaggi recovered. Picking up its burned scarred face to look at me.  
It began to run straight for me, it might have just been hungry before, but now the thing was just pissed.  
I tried my best.. maybe pa will still be okay after its done chewing on me..  
I accepted my fate, but then I was surrounded by a bright light. I couldn't see or hear anything. I could feel something grab me. No wait.. A few things? It wasn't scaley like a jaggi.. it was..furry?


	2. Ch 2: Fuzzy Friends In Low Places

I couldn't see anything, all I remember was a bright flash with a loud bang.. I cant hear anything either. Well, aside from this awful high pitched ringing in my ears. I could feel things pulling on my clothes, I tried to fight them off, but they pushed me down. I could feel myself moving.. and bouncing up and down.  
I was pushed on a cart.

My hearing began slowly coming back, I heard the birds and the loud squeak of an ungreased wheel bearing. Pa had the same problem on his cart.  
"Pa!" I completely forgot with all the confusion, I tried getting up but something pushed me back down. At first i could hear a voice. Sort of a low mumble, I still couldn't hear well  
*Slap* "Can you hear me meow?"  
"...Meow?" I asked confused. My vision began to focus and I could see him. A Feylne. He was small, sitting on my chest. His face was hard to see, he had a small hat on his head. The rapid bouncing didn't help much. I looked up to the front of the cart to see two other cats pulling me. They were fast, we were already out of the clearing with the Jaggi.  
"Ill take that as a yes" He smirked. "Don't worry about your hunter, he told us to run ahead while he grabbed his sword. You have a tough buddy, buddy."  
A bump in the road cause me to bounce up off the floor of the cart. With the cat on my chest, he bounced higher than me, I reached up and grabbed him so he wouldn't fall off. His hat fell back, it was tied by string under his chin. He had white fur, with a small patch of brown over his eyes, which were a piercing purple color.  
"You can let me go meow." He said sternly"  
"Sorry.. I thought cats liked to be held" i said setting him down on the cart floor, the cats stopped pulling the cart now, and we were pushed back into a large bush, I couldn't even see out.  
"Housecats maybe. I'm a warrior! don't make that mistake again" he said with a huff. Pulling his hat back on his head, he motioned for the other two to speak to him.  
"Uh.. what did you do?" I asked stumbling off the cart, the ringing and blindness had passed .  
"Uh, first off you're welcome, jerk." Said the smallest cat.  
The one with the hat slapped him, "be nice thyme, that's not how we talk to strangers meow is it?"  
Thyme shook is head, "You're right, sorry.."  
"I'm Pepe," said the one with the hat, "Nice to meet you buddy." he extended his small paw out for a handshake  
"Shane" I said reaching out to shake his.. Paw. it was little, i had to grab it with two fingers to be careful not to hurt him. He only around a foot and a half tall.  
"What did you do? Where is my pa?"  
"Oooh that was your da. Well he's fine. He probably has that big lizard dead by meow. We saw you guys in passing, we were bringing some seeds and veggies to a little house somewhere around here. Kinda lost to be honest."  
"That's probably my family" I said, "We're pretty much the only people who live here."  
I could hear pa calling my name and stomping around outside the bush, he sounded frantic. I navigated my way out of the bush to see him running after the tracks made by the cats cart.  
"Hey over here!" I yelled, waving him over.  
He spun around scanning the area for me. As soon as he saw me, all his emotion dissapeard, and he walked over to me.  
"L-Look pa I'm sorry.. I-I know you told me not to touch your sword" I stuttered, I must have made him mad, he didn't even say anything.  
"I didn't know what else to do!" I blurted out, clenching a fist and looking down the ground. I could feel the tears start to well up and I didn't want him to see.  
"I thought you were going to die and I was scared tha-" His hug cut me off. Wrapping his arms around my shoulders, it pulled my face right into his chest. I could feel him start to shake a little.  
"Im so glad you're okay.. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you." I could tell he was choking back tears  
"That was the coolest thing I've ever seen, I didn't know you could do that!" he said picking me up to look me in the face. He had the biggest smile ive ever seen, even his big bushy eyebrows seemed happy to see me.  
"Neither did I" I said, no longer covering my face "Turns out I do make a pretty great hunter don't I"  
"He sure does" Said Pepe as he and his friends came out of the bush, "You have a pretty alright kid there buddy"  
Pa looked at me and smiled, "I sure do" He said setting me back down  
"Nice to see ya Pepe, its been a while" he said walking over to him "And I see you took my advice with the flash bombs. Pretty handy aren't they"  
"They sure are" He laughed, "For your sake anyway, "He said followed by jokingly punching him. If he were the size of a person, he would have punched his shoulder, but seeing as he was so tiny, he would up punching him just above the knee.  
"Now lets go see what you and the misses could use for a garden this year, yeah?"  
Pepe and Thyme took the wagon and began walking ahead of us.  
"By the way" said the quiet cat. This one was black and white instead of brown and white, "My name is Basil"  
Basil had a small green handkerchief tied around her neck, I could tell she was shy. She was looking down and walking away while she introduced herself.  
"Nice to meet you Basil, thank you"  
Basil let out a nervous laugh while walking backwards, she wasn't paying attention where she was going because she tripped over a small rock.

*Smack*

Pa smacked the back of my head  
"Ow! what was that for?" I yelled rubbing my head  
"For swearing. Knock that off. Its a bad habit." He said sternly. A smile crept over his face "Now lets tell your ma how cool you are"

It took a few days for Ma to stop being mad at Pa. With all of the flowers he brought her to calm her down, she lined the entire outside of the house. I didn't really like it.. it was too girly for my tastes, but hey, it made her happy. It turns out that the group of cats were homeless, traveling all over the world to sell fruits and vegetables. Pa said they could live with us. Sense they moved in, they made us a huge garden that they tend to when they're not out selling to other far away places. We even built them a house. It was almost an exact replica of our house, just scaled down to fit their size. They were so happy they threw us a party. It was kinda strange. Most of their friends were other cats so I felt sort of out of place..

Its been 2 years sense the incident with the great Jaggi. I'm 15 now, and doing more quests with my pa, I even have my own sword. Its not as.. explosive as Pa's, but it does its job.  
"Just got a message from the guild boy," Pa said coming in the door. "Looks like there's a small bug infestation near the village on the other side of the island"  
"Im ready now!" I exclaimed, I already had my pack ready and was sharpening my sword, my hair was getting sort of long, I kept on having to swish it out of my face so I could see what i was doing. Jumping up off the bench, I wanted to go as quick as possible before ma could give me a speech.  
"I made you this too," I said shoving a jar of homemade potion into his chest, "You're not as agile as you used to be, old man" I laughed running up the trail. He grabbed the jar and clenched his teeth, "I'll make you eat those words you little-" "Watch it" interrupted ma. She was just outside the door working on the flower box, I didn't notice her because I was in such a hurry. "You may have your little hunter but hes also still my baby." "Yes ma'am" said Pa, grabbing his bag and marching off after me. "Yo! Wait up! I'm not as agile as.. I.."  
"TOLD YOU!" I yelled  
"SHUT UP!"

"Altaroth - Large insect monster. Size: Small. No larger than 2 feet tall by 3 feet long. Dangerous: No. Guild asked to remove due to their mass eating of the Blue Mushrooms of the area." I wrote in my hunting log. After I began working with the guild part time, they asked me to keep a journal of my missions and monster types that I encountered.  
"Look alive!" yelled pa jumping behind me cutting a bug in half. "That little bugger was just about to nibble your giblets!" he giggled jumping from bug to bug.  
"My giblets are of no concern of yours!" I yelled back cockily, "I can handle myself!" I drew my sword from its sheath on my back. Pa helped me make it. It was just a simple iron sword with wrappings on the handle to absorb impact. I never liked shields, they got in my way.

"Woo." Huffed pa. "What was that, probabllyyy~ 14 to 7?"  
"You wish. If anything we're tied" I scoffed. "Besides, we only needed to get rid of 20, we can go now"  
"Okay fine.. How about this" He said leaning towards me, "Next altaroth wi-"  
I didn't give him time to finish, I had already ran off to the first bug I saw. I got this in the bag I thought, with my down swing just about to hit my target, something hard hit me in the back. Pa had caught up to me and hit me with his shield  
"You didn't say anything about friendly fire!" I shouted, curled up into a ball on the ground  
"Exactly!" He laughed, chopping the last bug into bits. "Besides, you cheated anyway."  
"Curses man, my back really hurts. I whined walking back to the house holding my lower back.  
"Don't call me man, I'm your pa. How about this," he said reaching down the front of his shirt. He took off his necklace, he always wore it when we went out for as long as i could remember, but i never asked about it.  
"Here ya big baby" he said extending his arm toward me. It was a crude leather necklace with some strange orange hooked rock at the end. It was curved, and looked like it had been broken off of something.  
"whats this?" I asked snatching it from his hand  
"its called an armor talon" He explained. "I got it from some creepy guy in the big city. Its apparently made with some sort of ancient magic, I cant really find anything about it.. But all I know is when i wear it, nothing can really seem to hurt me."  
"Wow, this looks pretty sweet actually" I said as I put it on, it seems like once i draped it over my head I could feel my skin get thicker.. almost like stone. It felt very strange.. but in a good way."

The sun had just set, it was quite a walk to the other side of the island. As we turned the corner to the clearing where our house was, we could see a faint glow. Pa stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath, I instinctively did the same thing.

"..Smoke?.."


	3. Ch 3: Its Up to You

Smoke Filled my lungs and fear spread though my veins. Pa bolted for the house without muttering a word. Following close behind, we turned up the trail to our clearing. Our house was in plain sight. Our entire house was up in flames. I stopped running, shocked, and trying to take in what was happening. All of Ma's flowers were gone, our doors and windows were gone, even half of the wall was broken down. Was this real? I must be dreaming..  
I could hear pa calling out ma's name and see him dive though where our door used to be. I couldn't move. The heat from the house was so intense even with me being so far away. It seems almost peaceful, like a large bonfire on a cool night. If you closed your eyes you wouldn't know the difference. This cant be real..  
I stumbled closer, hearing the house cave in from the inside, I couldn't hear pa anymore.  
I heard something.. It was Ma  
"Shane! We're fine, I'm just stuck, run into the trees before it comes back!"  
Before it comes back? Before what comes back?.. Her words seemed to bounce off of me. It didnt make sense. None of it did. This is my house, we live in the middle of nowhere, this kind of stuff cant happen to me.  
I felt a large rumble on the ground behind me, like something fell from space and landed behind me. It was warm, almost like the fire ahead of me. It felt almost like my house was in flames behind me too. Im sure Ill wake up soon.  
I turned around, slowly to face the large creature before me. It was the largest thing ive ever seen. It was a firey red color with black stripes over its eyes. It had wings, and a large spiked tail. Ive never seen anything like it, I was probably big enough to fit into its mouth without causing it any discomfort. Yup. Its a nightmare, Im sleeping right now i know it.  
I could hear my parents calling for me but couldn't make out what they were saying. Its funny how fear makes your body stop working. The creature arched is back and let out the most ungodly roar I've ever heard. It was so loud that I fell to my knees, covering my ears. It felt like the creature blew out my eardrums. I opened my eyes just long enough to see its tail a mere 2 feet away from my face. It had spun around making its tail like an obscenely large mace. I had no time to move, it hit me.  
Hit me so hard that I flew towards the trees away from my house. It hurt.. Bad. This is real isn't it.. Dreams aren't supposed to hurt.  
I flew straight into a tree facing my burning house. I couldn't move.. How am I not dead? All of my bones should be broken, but I feel like they're still where they're supposed to be.. I saw my parents burst out of the burning door-frame.  
Everything was getting dark. Oh no, "Im starting to black out aren't i.." I thought to myself. I need to snap out of it to help carry ma, it looks like her leg is burned. I tried my hardest but I just couldn't move anything.  
She tripped, taking Pa down with her. I could see him look up and then yell something to me. Damn. I couldnt hear very well.. I need to stay awake, i need to help Pa like i did before. I can do it. Im a hunter, from a long line of hunters. I need to make him proud.  
Ma reached out her hand toward me, I could see tears streaming down her face. What was she saying? I cant hear her.. Wait. Where did that dragon go?  
Its what pa saw. Its why he had to stay with ma. Its why he had to do his best to keep her safe. It had flown up into the sky and just began lowering itself above them. I could feel its wings blowing all the ash and smoke into my face.  
Come on Shane, just get up you big baby, help him, its no big deal  
I made a fist. Finally, something going my way.  
I pulled myself to my feet. Jeez my body hurts.. How am I alive? Wait. I remembered the necklace he gave me just before we came back home.. The armor talon he called it. Some old dusty magic kept me alive?  
I picked up my head just in time to see it. Ill never forget what that dragon did to my parents. Looking down at them from the sky, it let out another roar and rained fire from its mouth, right on my Ma and Pa. No way this his happening. Im asleep right now arent I? Real funny subconscious, jokes over, wake me up now.

I must have stood at that tree for the whole night. It was real. Everything I knew was gone. Even my parents. I had nothing left.

Pepe, Thyme, and Basil were gone at the time, there were on their way back from a sale. I really hope they didn't make much.. They saw the smoke and left their wagon in the woods and ran straight for my house. They found me standing at the tree. They didnt know what to say. I cant blame them, I wouldn't either. They just sat me on the ground and sat next to me for a while.. I was out of tears. I literally had nothing left to lose.  
"What am I supposed to do.." I finally said. "I have no home. I have no family. I have nothing to stay alive for. I wish it died with them. I shouldn't b-" Pepe jumped from the ground and onto my chest, tugging at my collar of my shirt.  
"Dont even start!" He screamed. Tears streaming down his face. "What would your pa say to you right now if heard you say that nonsense?!"  
I was wrong. I wasnt quite out of tears yet. My eyes became misty and i had nothing to say.. he wouldnt be happy with me thats for sure. I tried to make eye contact. It was hard, like opening your eyes underwater.  
"Ill tell you what he'd say, he would tell you not to worry about him." His voice started to trail off and shake. "He would say that you need to live and be help people. Thats what he did, and thats all ever wanted out of you.." His grip loosened and he looked down letting the tears fall into my lap.  
"Youre right.." I said quietly. "But what can I do?.. I have nowhere to live.. How am i supposed to survive out here by myself."  
"Youre not by yourself." Said Thyme "You cant forget about us.. We're like family too."  
I looked into the smoldering pile that was once my home. I saw something.. it was shiny. Sort of a light blue glow almost.  
"My Knife!" I shouted jumping up from the ground and tossing the cat onto the ground  
The sheath was black and burned, but still held up. This was all I had left from my pa. That and this stupid necklace.  
I bent over and picked up it.  
*Click* back into its case.  
"I wont let you down pa" I said to myself.  
"C'mon buddy," Pepe said. "Its starting to rain meow, lets go into the village. It shouldnt take long."  
I always liked the rain. It made things seem new and clean every time. Almost like a new start.  
We left my house that day and i made a vow to myself to never freeze up or let anything bad happen to anyone else.

We made it to the village the next morning. They were so nice to me, I even got to live with the chief. His name was Rikka. He was the villages oldest and best hunter in his day. Because of his hunting days, his body was scarred and very tan from days of being outside. His pale green eyes were almost covered by his ridiculously large eyebrows. Just like Pa. It was just a small fishing village, everyone that worked there seemed to have a specific job and without just one person, everything would fall to chaos. The first few days of my staying there was mostly just Rikka trying to make sure I was comfortable. He was very nice to me, but I was still in shock. I didnt talk for a while.. After the first week passed, I had a long conversation with him about my parents and he just let me talk and cry and vent about how nothing was fair. Thats what i needed. After I cried for the first time, he just hugged me and told me everything would be okay. Ever sense that night, things have been looking up. I began working with the fishermen to be helpful, as well as some other odd jobs around the village. They did so much for me, I could have never made it up to them. Pepe, Thyme, and Basil come to visit me almost every day bringing me some sort of trinket or interesting object from their travels.

Im twenty years old now. My blonde hair became long and almost permanently swept to the side because of the breeze on the sea. The fishermen got tattoos to show they were a big deal or something. I never quite understood it, but they said it was a "becoming a man" sort of thing so i conformed to their wishes. I had a bright red line that carried under my right eye down to my jaw. They said it was symbolic to a shark and picked it out for me. They always liked my ferocity when it came to large sea creatures so thats what they made me get. I became very muscular and because of that, everyone assumed me to be a womanizer of sorts, but I didnt care much about that kind of stuff. I was also very tan, I spent almost every day outside or on the sea.

"Hey buddy! Ya got mail!" Yelled pepe marching down the road  
"Whatcha got for me fuzzy," I said in a mocking tone. He always hated it when I gave him cutesy nicknames.  
"You wish you were fuzzy." He muttered. "The guild gave you a mission, your first big deal." He said handing me the envelope. It had the guild seal pressed into the wax on the back of the envelope.  
"Finally they notice i have more worth than just picking stupid weeds.." I said with a grumble peeling open the letter. As I read it, I slowly picked it closer to my face to make sure i was reading it right.  
"Uhh you alright?" Asked Basil  
"Haha watch, its another stupid mushroom gig." added Thyme  
"Guys.." I said slowly lowering the letter.  
"They want me to come into town. They want to size me up." I said though a grin.

"They want me to go after something big"


	4. Ch 4: A City of Hunters

"Welcome aboard the S.S. Starkiss, this is your captain speaking, please keep your legs and arms in the aquatic vehicle at all time," Said pepe in a mocking tone. I had to ride in the Felyne's boat to get into town where the guilds headquarters was. "How long will this take?" I asked, with my knees just under my chin. The small dingy was just big enough for three cats. The addition of a fullsized human man didnt seem like a great idea. "Im not sure ill be able to do that for this whole ride, my legs are cramping up." The entire village lined up to see me off giving me small good luck charms or some salted meat to take on the trip with me. Most of them were laughing by this time, but I had already received a reputation of being a clown so I was alright with it. "Shouldnt take more than a few hours" Huffed Thyme as he threw my bags under the deck. I was going to load my things by myself, but after noticing the small boat situation, they found it better to find a spot to sit where i wouldnt flip the boat mid-trip. "What did you take with you, friggin' rocks?" he barked wiping sweat from his forehead. "Doesnt matter. Lets shove off." I said. I just really wanted to get out of there and into the town. It was getting sort of cramped in there, but over all I was excited. Ive always tried to imagine what the person writing these letters looked like. Probably a big huge hunter with crazy armor who could crush all his underlings using nothing but his leg muscles. And for the first time in.. well forever I got my own specific quest. It was nice to get recognized for once. Not everybody gets to go on a big hunt, mostly because they didnt want to be the cause of too many peoples deaths Im assuming.

It took way longer than they claimed. We had left port just after the sun went down and by time we got there the sun had just risen. I was proud of myself. I only threw Thyme off twice. As soon as we got there I rolled off onto the dock and stretched out as long as i could. Ive never heard so many bones crack at once. Some other hunters walking by just looked at me and rolled their eyes and muttered something followed by a laugh.. I didnt care. I was finally here. The city was enormous, and every building was made of stone. Some of the buildings were even taller than most of the trees on my island. The ground was covered by street vendors trying to sell something nobody really needed and hundreds of people. So many people. Of different sizes races and professions. You could easily tell who was a hunter and who was not. In this place, the hunters seemed to be like celebrities and the most important ones had bright shiny colorful armor crafted out of some creatures ive never even heard of. Most of the few hours of me being there was Pepe dragging me away from some street vendor or someone who would have ended up robbing me of everything i owned. He was used to this kind of life. He traveled all around the world and met all sorts of people, it seemed like he could tell the intentions of people just by looking at them. After buying something called Binoculars from a salesman for an obscene price, i saw a large banner. It was on a crimson red tapestry with the guild seal right in the middle. "Ah, here we are" announced Pepe, "The guilds main base complete with quest-board." "Also restaurant" Thyme added with an excited tone." "Yeah, for the hunters. Not you." tacked on Basil sarcastically. Jeez shes quiet. Sometimes I forget shes with us. "You go on ahead, we gotta go grab something" said Pepe walking off down another pathway "We'll see you in a little bit, dont do anything stupid." Marching off with Thyme and Basil waving and laughing. Im not sure why he said that, hes the impulsive one. Little furry punk. Shaking off my grumpy attitude I stepped into The Guilds canteena. It was a reasonably small area, with a blacksmith down below, and a few tables above. Way in the back I saw a front desk with a large board with notes stuck all over it. I walked up to the table with a grin on my face and smacked the small bell on the counter to tell whoever was supposed to be working there that I was waiting. My eyes floated around trying to take in as much scenery as possible. "First time here huh." I heard whispered right next to my ear. I jumped and spun around to the counter with fist up ready to attack whoever snuck up on me. Inches away from my face, a woman stood leaning over the counter. She was younger than me, but just bearly. She had short brown hair and a little uniform with the guild symbol on it. She had a big smile on her face and didnt seem at all worried about my attack pose. "Oh jeez I'm sorry miss," i said putting down my fists and turning a light red color. "Its okay! it happens all the time!" She said cheerily, slinking back into her chair behind the counter. It was sort of low and i was excited.. That's why I didn't notice. Smooth move bro. "What can I do ya for?" She asked. "Huh?.. Oh yeah." I said as i clumsy dug though my bag for the guild letter. "I.. received.. a note from you guys the other day.. And it looked something.. Like this!" I shouted as I whipped out the letter from my bag. Other hunters resting or getting a drink from surrounding tables burst out in laughter. "Lets take a look at this now shall we" The small woman said as she took the letter and read it over. "Ah yes, you have been chosen for a hunt slash recovery! Yaaaaaaaay!" She cheered flailing her arms around. Man shes an excitable little thing isn't she. "You'll need this!" She added disappearing under her desk and popping up only to throw a small red bandanna in my face. "Whats this for?" I questioned as the small strip of cloth fell off my nose and into my open hands. "This is your color so your support team can easily identify your possibly lifeless body from the swirling chaos that is a large class monster hunt!" She squeaked with an unusual amount of pep. "Lifeless.. Support team?" "She means us buddy" I turned to see my three friends with matching color bandannas on their foreheads or shoulders. "Usually in quests supported by the guild, each member gets a small team of Feylines as support in case something goes wrong to get their sorry butts out of there. Kind of like health insurance" he giggled. "How did you guys get roped into this?" I asked, still curious and worried about the whole 'lifeless body' thing. "We asked." Thyme said with almost no emotion. "You're welcome." "Aw you guys know eachother? thats so cute!" Squealed the receptionist, "Now usually id be all over this thing like a group of jaggi on a freshly murdered aptonoth, but the clocks a' tickin! best hup to it!" "Freshly murdered?.." "Ah dont worry about it, shes odd" said Pepe running up to push me into the direction of the skydock. "Woah wait, what the devil is a skydock?" I had so many questions that nobody was answering.. "Now have fun! don't die on your first outing!" As soon as she said that, I heard another hunter toward the back yell something about a new guy and begin to clap, by time I was up the steps to the 'Skydock' the whole area was clapping. It seemed sarcastic.. But i had no time to shout anything smart back. At the top of the stairs was a pier. Well, without any water.. The pier was just jetting off the wall of the city over a large sea of sand. "What are we waiting for?.. theres nothing here.." Just as soon as i let out my complaints, a boat came down from the sky to rest right next to the 'pier'. It looked like a normal large scale boat, except for large propellers and a large sack of hot air held on by suspending ropes and wires. I was speechless. I had to be shoved in by Thyme and Pepe. Basil was content giggling about my reluctance to get on the skyboat.

The ride was incredibly short. It only took an hour or so until we reached our destination. I got to enjoy the ride for a few minutes because for a majority of the trip I had grabbed onto the mast with a deathgrip and wouldn't let go. I had never been in the sky before. Pardon me for wanting to stay alive.. It was just a small island, much like the one I lived on. "Now when you're out there, you wont see us very much." cautioned pepe, "But we'll always be keeping an eye on you. Cant let you die this early meow can we?" he said with a nervous laugh. "That's alright, you'll probably get in my way anyway you furry buttmunch." I snarled. He knew i was kidding. "good luck." He patted me on the back and hopped off in the woods with a cart as well as Thyme and Basil. Basil turned to give me a smile and disappeared into the bushes. After stuffing some free goodies given to me by the guild into my bag I took departed. My mission was to kill a Royal Ludroth, as well as locate the assumed body of another hunter they sent on before me. I had no idea what a Royal Ludroth was, but they said I would notice it. Being as stealthy as possible, hopping from shadow to bush, i came across a small cave opening. I heard a shriek from within the cave that sounded like a woman being skinned alive.. Woo. Dangerous what the mind plays on you when your'e terrified. Sword in hand, i delve into the hole to try and save, or end the misery, of the mystery hunter.

"Giggi: large worm-like creature Size - Small, perhaps a half a foot tall by 2 feet long. Dangerous - Yes. Will latch on to whatever flesh is showing and begin sucking blood without stopping until removed by force." I wrote in my hunting log in what little light i could find in this wretched cave. The little buggers were everywhere, and even without eyes were amazingly skilled at finding me. I had just hacked through a couple of them to find sanctuary behind a large rock. And there i saw her, the mystery hunter. I couldn't see her face because she had her helmet on, but her armor looked dirty and rough. Like she had been diving for cover for a while now. "Psst. Miss, can you hear me?" I whispered, leaning over to make sure she was breathing. Upon closer inspection, she was indeed breathing. Hard for a matter of a fact, it seemed like she was horrified. And for a good reason, those giggi were vicious. "miss, just follow me out and ill lead you back to the skybo-" I stopped talking because a giggi had crawled atop the rock we were hiding behind. It hadnt noticed us yet, but we both knew it was there. She took a deep breath. Oh dear lord, i thought. don't scream.. You'll alert everything within a 2 mile radius that we're here. As i prepared for a fight to the death with the little varmints, she let out the loudest most ungodly scream I've ever heard in my life.. but what she screamed was.. Unexpected.. "Awwww JUST LOOK AT HOW CUTE IT IS!" She shrieked, jumping up to grab it. In a warm, and seemingly lethal embrace by the crazy chick, she began to ramble, "ILL LOVE YOU FOREVER! ILL EVEN KEEP YOU IN A BASKET WHERE YOU CAN SLEEP! AND A LITTLE DISH FOR YOUR LITTLE FOOD! WHAT DO YOU EAT?! I DONT CARE ILL COOK FOR YOU! ANYTHING YOUR LITTLE HEART DESIRES! DO THEY HAVE HEARTS?!" she asked me. "Uh. I would assume so.. miss, if you want that thing as a pet you should loosen up a bit. I think you're choking it out" I said pointing out the fact that it had already stopped moving. "Oh. That would explain why they all fell asleep when i grabbed them. Thank you kind stranger!" she said extending her hand for a handshake. "Names Kyrui, Nice to meetcha!" "Uh, Shane" I said grabbing her hand. "Charmed" "You sure say 'Uh' alot" she laughed, "Are you dumb or something?"  
What? No!" I said releasing her hand, i was sort of offended, "I was sent here to clean up your mess! they thought you were dead!" "Pft. Dead. They're always so dark, i just wanted a little giggi friend. Aren't they cuuuuttttee?~" she asked shoving the small distressed creature toward my face. "Yeah adorable, we need to get outta here. you could be in huge trouble" I put my hand between my face and the creature. I didn't want it to latch on to me."

Out of the cave and walking back to the safe point, me and Kyuri along with the small giggi in a basket began to notice bugs and other small wildlife leaving with a sense of urgency. "Oh. yeah i forgot to do that didn't I" Kyuri said to herself. "Do what?.." I asked. I had noticed a large amount of water being pushed up behind us from the usually small stream. She turned around and sighed, "That." I turned slowly to notice a large reptilian creature with a yellow hide charging straight for us. From afar it didnt seem to be very large, but as it got closer I began to realize that it was roughly 15 feet tall. "May wanna start running!" Shouted Kyuri. She had already began sprinting for a nearby tree barely holding on to her new pet leaving me standing in the middle of a field. I would have been better suited wearing armor that looked like a target. Oooh I just knew i wouldnt get along with her very well..


	5. Ch 5: A Girl and Her Hammer

"Royal Ludroth: Large amphibious reptile. Size - Large, between 45 to 60 feet long by 10 to 20 feet tall. Royal Ludroth are the alpha males of a Ludroth pack. With a large spongey maine, it can travel on land for long periods of time. Approach with caution." Kyruri had already ran far enough away so the creature didnt care about her. "Ah well, no point in running anyway" I said to myself, drawing my sword. Kyuri turned to see me standing alone. "Run you idiot!" She yelled over her shoulder, "Just stay alive for a minute, I'll be right back!" I looked back to say something cocky, but she had already ran back to the skyboat. Thanks for the help I guess. No really, you run off I'll be fine. The Ludroth was close now, he was a big one, roughly 50 feet long. Im not sure why it had come so far from water, Its maine was full of water and sloshing around as it charged towards me. Standing perfectly still with sword in hand, I bent my knees to prepare for whatever it was going to do. Then, just before it ran into me, it reared back standing on its back legs. "Jeepers you're big" I muttered with a grin, "maybe ill actually get a little respect too." Just as it reached its peek height, it tipped toward me, gaining speed and trying to bodyslam me with its maine, I had waited untill the last second and rolled aside. It crashed to the ground, throwing water and mud everywhere. Now was my chance, I had already grabbed onto its face at began swinging madly. Something was wrong.. It didnt seem to hurt it. Its scales were strong. I dont think my sword is sharp enough for this. With one hand on its crest and the other on my sword swinging like a crazy person, the creature recovered to notice me standing on its head. Letting out a roar, it threw me straight up in the air. I wasnt prepared for that, my sword aside leaving me flipping in the air with nothing to fall onto. Trying to stop spinning in the air, I noticed Kyuri running back. I only got a glimpse though, i was still spinning much to fast. "Curl up into a ball!" she yelled "Im sorry if I hit you in advance!" Hit me? with what? i did as she asked and curled up. It only made me spin faster though.. Then landing on something soft, i saw her. Kyuri has a hammer. Of course she does. She had already come down mid swing on the creatures head just a few inches away from me. She had broken of a piece of the Ludroths crest and causing it to become dizzy and flop over on its side, making all sorts of grunts and groans as it tried to get back to its feet. "Almost got ya there! That sure woulda sucked huh?" she said jokingly as she ran off to the front of the beast again. "Woulda sucked? That would have killed me!" I shouted, "How can you even carry that? its like 2 times your size?" Her hammer was enormous and carved out of a large bone. It looked like it weighed around 200 pounds, but she threw it around with ease bashing the monster in the face and on its maine, making water squirt out. "Doesnt matter! Get your sword and start chopping its maine! your sword isnt sharp enough for the scales!" Thats right. The maine was what gave the Ludroth its energy to be on land. If i could break that down, perhaps it would get tired out. With no time to waste, I staggered over to my sword sticking out of the ground, I grabbed its handle and ran off to help the strange woman. Winding up for a jumping strike one its side, it had began to get back on its feet. Coming down with a chop, i could see a large gash on its sponge. "Yes! like that keep going!" Kyuri yelled at me and placing her hammer on her back to start running away again. Chopping again and again, i began to cut off large sections of its maine, causing water to gush out and making the creature stumble back. "Grab on!" She shouted, she was behind me now with her hammer lowered close to the ground. "To what?" I asked, puzzled. The ludroth had turned to face us, now in a rage. "The hammer you nerd, Ive only even done this once!" "Ah jeez fine!" I yelled, the Ludroth had began to charge us again. Running behind her, i grabbed the edge of the hammer and braced myself. "Here we GO!" With a swing, she sent me flying in the air again. Boy. Ive been in the air a lot today. She had thrown me in an arch to land on the top of the Ludroth to attack a new area. I thought to myself how i was supposed to make the most impact on the thing.. and i remembered my hunting knife. I know it was only for carving, but lets try something new here. *Click* out of its case, i now had a blade in each hand and positioned my body to land with both blades right in the middle of its sponge. Kyuri had already charged towards the creature underneath me. Coming down on its back was easy, both blades immediately sunk into the soft hide and with one quick motion i had hacked off a large section off the top. Rearing back in pain, the Ludroth began to whine and try to shake me off. I had already sunk in the blades again. I wasnt going anywhere ya big lizzard. Shaking this way and that, the creature tried everything in its power to get me off, but luckily for me had forgotten about her. Kyrui was waiting for the right time to come down with a mighty swing. And here it was, shaking down toward the ground right in front of her, she swung down with all her might, directly on its forehead, smashing its head into the ground. Her hit was more force than the Ludroth used to try to shake me off and because of that, I flipped off forwards to land at her feet. "What would you do without me?" she asked now bending over me mockingly. The Ludroth was finished, it was laying behind my feet. "Now c'mere. Lets get some goodies." she said walking toward the huge body. "That was fancy thinking with your knife, I haven't seen anything like that before. We should get you some new swords i think when we get back." Rolling over on my back, I felt a feeling of accomplishment. I hadnt done anything like this before. Looking up at the sky, I felt something smack onto my face and everything went dark. "Gwah! whats this?!" I screamed, I wasnt prepared for that, so i freaked out a little bit and popped upright to a sitting position. "Ludroth hide ya goon," she said from somewhere behind the fallen creature. "Might wanna get a move on before i get all the good carves for myseeeelf~" sticking her arm straight up to give away her location, she waved and slunk her arm down again to skin it. "Alright fine, im coming" i said collecting the hide and getting to my feet. "And what do you mean 'get some new swords for me?" "Oh ya know, for our next hunt. we're partners now." she said with a wink.

This skyboat ride was much more peaceful than my last. I had gotten more used to being in the air now. The guild sent its clean up crew of Felynes to collect the rest of the creature for its meat and valuables. Kyrui got yelled at by the over enthusiastic guild girl at the counter for taking so long and making everybody think she had died. Rolling her eyes and looking back, she spotted me. I had been standing near the entrance to the guilds blacksmith for a while now trying to get her attention. I had motion that i was going down the stairs and she waved me off, only to turn and get yelled at some more.

Boy its hot down here, i thought to myself. Large smelters and redhot steel was everywhere. The area had this strange smell.. I couldnt quite put my finger on what it was. "That smell youre smelling is the scent of many different parts to make weapons. Some of which were taken from creatures." It must have been obvious that i was smelling the air. Even the small man at the counter with glasses noticed. "Oh sorry, I didnt notice you there." I said. The people here at the guild sure are sneaky.. This is the second time I didnt notice a worker. "What do you want." Asked the small man. He was very short, roughly the size of a feylne. His long white beard went down almost to his feet. "Um. Is this the blacksmith?" I said supprised, he was grumpy for no reason." I need to get a pair of swords made up." "Dual swords. Right. What kind do you need." He said. The way he spoke was fast and to the point, like he was irritated about something. "Im not sure" I said leaning on the counter, "I just need a pair sharp enough to do damage." "get off my counter." he said sweeping my elbows off. "I got some for sale, or you can give me the materials to make some." "Well.. I did just kill a royal ludroth, I think the guild sai-" "Yes we have those parts." he said cutting me off. "Let me make you something. You dont know what you want." Without waiting for me to respond he hopped off his stool and back to the large ovens and strange machines. A few minutes later, he returned with something wrapped in a piece of cloth. "Here. Dont cut yourself" he said shoving the package at me. I rolled back the material to notice two bone scythes, carved from a large bone. Must have come from the Ludroth. The were heavy and very very sharp. Just running my finger along the blade caused me to bleed. "Great! What did I JUST say?" barked the small man. "Sorry.." i mumbled..

Getting things made from your own materials, the blacksmith told me, made things cheaper. All i needed were the correct components and he could make me anything. I wanted to keep looking around, but I broke his 'No Touching' rule one too many times and he kicked me out for the day. With my new swords on my back, i walked out into the tabled area in front of the guild quest board with my head held high. Kyrui was sitting at a nearby table and waving at me. Her helmet was off now to reveal her face. She was beautiful. Her long black hair went in a sweep along her face and down to her chin. She also had crimson red eyes, just like my mother. You see, at different locations of the world, the people looked different and had different specialties. Coming from the Desert, the people there all had red eyes, and were very tan due to the harsh sunlight. The people there specialized in Hammers and made great strides in the medical world. People of the islands were specialists of swords of all types. From the dual swords to long swords, we were tough to beat. Islanders also had blue or green eyes. People of the tundra had very dark eyes, almost black. Because of all the gear they would need to survive in the snow, their movements were restricted. They were all very accomplished gunners. Last but not least, the people of the swamp or 'Flooded Forests.' With green or brown eyes, there were unmatched with Greatswords and bows. They didnt leave home very often and never liked associating with strangers. Because of my mother being from the desert, and father being from the Islands, my eyes were a bright purple and a rarity for most people.

"Here, lookie what I did" exclaimed Kyrui. Reaching under the table, she grabbed her hammer and set it on the table with a loud crash, causing everybody nearby to look at us. "I used some of the resources to fix my hammer!" before her weapon seemed to be solid bone, but now it had the spongey maine of the ludroth wraping around the edges to make for additional water damage to an unsuspecting creature. "Its called a SplashHammer! Isnt it CUTEE~?!" "Adorable" I said with a laugh. "I need a place to leave my things, where can I go?" "Oh yeah, sleep. C'mere" reaching over the table she grabbed my arm and lifted me right over the table. How in the world is she so strong? Leading me around the corner I saw a large structure. "Lookie. This is where the hunters can stay between quests" Said Kyuri leading me into the door.

After telling the woman at the entrance i was a hunter, she gave me a key and led me to an empty room. All that was in there was a bed, a large blue chest, and a table. Kyuri had left to leave some things in her room, saying she would help me unpack. She was only a few doors down. Dropping my things into the chest, I fell onto the bed. There was another letter from the guild waiting for me at the table. Hearing Kyuri singing a song and skipping down the hall, I let out a small chuckle.

"Looks like things are just getting interesting."


	6. Ch 6: Cuddle Bunny

"Why is it just staring at me?.." I asked Kyrui for probably the third time. Her Giggi pet.. Thing was with her all the time now. Even now, when I'm supposed to feel safe getting something to eat before a quest. I couldn't eat.. It just sat there. Staring at me. Well I'm assuming it was staring at me, they dont really have eyes or anything. "Hes not an 'It!" she snapped. "His name is Prince Mushy, Lord of all things cute and squishy! you know this.." "Okay, can you get Mushy off the table and out of my face. I think you forgot they usually suck blood out of people." I asked. Kyrui took him off the table and on the seat next to her with a huff. "Oh fine ya big baby. I wish you two would get along. He likes you a whole lot. Dont you Prince Mushy?~" Not looking away from me, it let out some sort of low grumbling noise and continued to stare using the table as cover. I think I liked it on the table more.. I could see him easier..

We have been working for the guild for a while now and were just beginning to make a name for ourselves. We were starting to make some pretty good money and with the resources from all of our hunts, I even got some new swords and a full set of hunter armor. I never liked helmets much though, they blocked my vision. Kyrui had made a full set of Qurupeco armor. Mostly for the colors.. She thought it was cute. We must have taken down 5 of those dumb bird things for her to make this set. She started off as a huge nuisance.. but I kinda grew used to her. Like a wart or something you just couldnt quite bring yourself to get rid of so you just make the best of a weird situation.

Kyrui and I were in the local market, I had run out of rations to take on quests again so I had to buy some more. Thats when we were approached by a strange man. "Hey bro, you're Shane right?" he asked with a stupid smile. "Uh, yeah?" I replied sort of confused. "What are you up to on this fine evening? Care to make some money?" He said, walking up to me and putting his arm around my shoulders. Now he had my attention. I wasnt by any means poor, but after making a full set of armor and my new set of Qurupeco choppers, a little extra money never hurt. "Well sure, what do you have in mind?" "Heh, I knew you were a smart guy" he said nudging into my side. "Meet me here after dark, I'll take you there. And hey, you can bring your girlfriend with you!" He said looking over my shoulder at Kyrui. "Oh shes not my-" she interrupted me in the middle of my defense by grabbing my face and smushing my lips. "Oh thats okay my little cuddle bunny boo-boo bear, You go on ahead and have some man time, i need to do some shopping. Do be safe, now gimme a kiss~" she said leaning in. I was so confused, and just stood there with my face smashed in between her hands. "Oh that Shane, always a kidder," she said to the man, releasing my face and messing up my hair. "Bring him back in one piece now okay? Be good honey bunches!~" Walking away, I could see her chuckling to herself, leaving me with the stranger. "Shes pretty hot. How'd you get her?" he asked. "I.. I have no idea."

"C'mon guy, we're almost there." Said the man moving a large box next to an alleyway to show a hidden staircase leading under a large building. He took me to the farther side of town and told me to leave all my belongings at home as well as my weapons and armor leaving me wearing a cloth shirt and pair of pants. I still didnt trust the guy, so I brought my hunting knife just to be safe, as well as Pa's armor talon necklace. As we walked down the stairs, I could begin to smell sweat, dirt, and.. blood?.. "Aaaand we're here!" said the man, extending his arm to show the large area inside the building. "Welcome to The Pits!" Taking one look around I knew exactly what this was. it was an underground street fighting ring with bets being placed on the fighters. As he walked me toward a large circle of people we passed a bunch of very hurt hunters. One man was laying on the ground, not moving and surrounded by what i would assume were his friends. Another man being carried by some other hunter bumped into me and screamed in pain, His ribs must have been bruised or broken. As we got closer to the large circle of people, I could hear the sound of fist hitting flesh and the crown 'ooh-ing' and 'aah-ing' in response to the fight. "Now," said the man stopping and turning to face me. "You're a pretty good fighter, you stay here and ill go collect bets. You just stand here and look pretty, I'll have them get you when its your turn." and just like that, he dissappeared in the crowd. "Wait, my turn? My turn for what?!" I yelled. Just as I got out my last words, i was grabbed and tugged into the large circle of people. As i was shoved into the large opening, I saw my opponent on the other side. With his back toward me without a shirt, I tried to size him up. He was very large, at least a foot taller than me, and really buff. His left arm was covered in scars from his wrist all the way up to his shoulder and neck. His long black hair went down past his shoulder blades and was a mess. He must have been fighting before I showed up. "LAADDIIIEEESS AND GENTLEMEENNN!" A voice called out. "IN ONE CORNER, WE HAVE OUR RESIDENT UNDEFEATED CHAMPION, SIZING IN AT SIX FOOT SEVEN INCHES TALL AND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY POUNDS! THE DEADLY.. THE TERRIBLE.. THE AMAZZZIIIINNGG SIEGE!" The crowd exploded in cheers and boos. After hearing his intro or whatever that was.. He turned to face me. He was enormous and very intimidating. His face was bruised, bloody, and one of his eyes was swollen shut. They were a pale green color. "AND HIS OPPONENT!" The voice continued. "THE PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN WARRIOR FROM THE SEAS. SIZING IN AT FIVE FOOT NINE INCHES TALL AND WEIGHING ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POUNDS ("how on earth did they know that.." i thought to myself.) THE PURPLE EYED TERROR, THE BOY FROM OUT OF TOWN! CUDDDLLLEE BUNNYYY!" The crowd burst out in laughter all looking and pointing at me. Looking for the strange man, we made eye contact. He had a big smile on his face and nodded slowly at me. "Not. Cool." I mouthed to him. Before I could turn my head, something hit the side of my face. It felt like a club or some sort of weapon.. That cant be fair.. As i fell to the ground, I place my hand down to catch myself and did a small cartwheel back to my feet and stood in a fighting position. It wasnt a weapon. It was his fist. He sucker-punched me when I wasnt looking. Just as I got back to standing, Siege had already starting to run towards me. He was fast for a guy his size. Making a large swing with his left hand, i raised my arms to block and counter attack, but as soon as i deflected his first blow, is right arm came in with a quick jab in my stomach, Knocking the wind out of me and causing me to lean forward. In my bowing position, Siege used both of his fists and pounded the top of my head shooting me down into the dirt and spots of dried blood. I could barely hear the crowd cheering for him, He hit my head so hard, I'm surprised he didnt knock me out. As i picked up my head, I saw him walking away, he thought I was done. Even the crowd thought i was out. Itll take more than that to take out ol Shane. Using this moment to my advantage, I pushed up off the ground as hard as i could, throwing me back up to my feet and i charged my opponent. He had just turned his face just far enough for me to get a strong swing on his jaw. Stumbling in shock, Siege rubbed his jaw where I had punched him and looked at me. The crown was dead quiet. Turning to see my dirty blooded face. A smile crept over my face. "That all you got?" I mumbled picking up my fists. He hit me harder than I thought, it was hard to talk. He smiled too. He was enjoying himself now. The fight was getting intense now. Most of the time was just him hitting me in the face and me falling down.. But every now and then, I got a few good hits in on him. Even the group of people were getting into it. Most of them were upset because they placed their bets on him. I dont blame them. He was the champion and my name was 'Cuddle Bunny.' I was so tired I could barely stand.. My vision was blurred and my fists felt like i had been punching a wall for an hour. Siege was even showing signs of becoming tired. "THIS IS TAKING TOO LONG!" a voice blurted out. "JUST KILL HIM ALREADY!" Boy I hope they were talking to me. "YEAH SIEGE! JUST END THIS!" Dang. They werent. "Im sorry. These people have homes to go to and a bedtime that had probably already passed. Im not going to take it easy on you anymore." Siege said spitting out blood from my last hit. "Oh good," I replied "Its just about time for a snack, Ill have them send you something in your hospital room." I added with a smirk. The crowd burst out in a chorus of 'Oooh's.' He didnt enjoy that line very much, he jumped at me coming for a downward strike. From this angle, I could give him a wiked uppercut right on his chin.. It was risky, but i had no time to think. With him above me, i planted my feet and punched up as hard as i could. Thats all I remember.

I woke up on the ground with people looking down at me and chattering about their bets. I rolled my head over to look for Siege, and i saw him just next to me beyond all the people looking at me. He was sitting down. Apparently from what I hear, We both hit each other and immediately knocked each other out cold. Looked pretty funny I guess. "Wait, so who gets the money then?" I heard a voice ask. "They both knocked each other out.. Does that mean I get my bet?" A huge argument broke out, and everyone had began to fight for their money. I couldn't move.. My body hadn't come back all the way yet. An arm reached down from the crowd and helped me to my feet. Helping me walk to the way out, I noticed it was the strange man who got me into this whole mess. "Don't worry friend, I gotcha. We need to go though, I still have everyone's bets."

After I got back into my room, the man tossed me onto my bed and left a bag of money on my table. Kyuri had been waiting for me. She was worried about me or something. After getting yelled at for a while, she told me it was my own darned fault and she didnt feel bad for me. Walking out the next day to pick up some things for our upcoming mission, Kyrui and I passed by some of the people that were in The Pit. "Nice going Cuddle Bunny" one man said with a laugh "Cant wait to see you again" Another man said the same, and by the time we had gotten to the supplies stand, about five people had said something. Kyuri was super confused, I could tell by her face. But she didnt say anything. As we entered the store, I saw Siege at the stand picking up something. He looked at me and I looked at him without any facial expressions or saying anything else, he said. "I like your work Cuddle bunny. Lets do it again sometime." "Likewise" I said. "I look forward to it." Giving me a nod, he left. Leaving Kyuri standing there with a blank look on her face.  
"What the hell did you do last night?"


	7. Ch 7: So This is True Terror

My body was heavy. I couldn't move. My vision was starting to fade and all i could hear were my own thoughts. This is how it ends? I always figured it was going to come at the hands of someone I said something a little too cocky to. I could feel it pierce my skin and everything began to fade. Just before I blacked out, i could finally hear Kyuri's voice. She had been shouting from afar, but I couldn't understand her until now. "For cryin' out loud Shane! Its just a shot, quit being such a baby!"

Kyuri and I had been hunting for some time now and just moved to a higher ranking mission list. We were heading out to the Tundra to fight something called a 'Gigginox.' It was my first time fighting something with poisonous properties. The guild makes everyone get vaccinated before their first poisonous monster quest so you wont die (as fast (from the poison)). It was my first time getting a shot. I guess i could have handled myself a little better. "Good idea though Shane, Laying on the floor will circulate your blood throughout your body faster." She said giving me a thumbs up from the bench just outside the medical room. I had slid out of my chair and laid flat on my back in a sulking puddle of shame and tears.

"Its not so bad" Kyrui said, "They said that happens to a lot of people!" Punching me in the shoulder where i got my shot, I let out a wince. She was having way to much fun with this. We made our way to the Skyboat docks awaiting our transportation to the Tundra. It was the furthest from the city so we had some time to kill. "Ooh!" Exclaimed kyuri with little warning, startling me. "I made you a thingy! Close them eyes and prepare yourself for the best thing you've ever seeeeen~" I hate it when she does this. She means well, but her choice in gifts was.. strange. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy them, but when will I ever use a pair of tap shoes? "Oh boy" I said faking enthusiasm and covering my eyes. I could feel her pull my hands down in to the table with my palms up, my eyes were still closed. I could feel something warm, and made of cloth. "Open!" She said. Looking down, i saw a very poor made, and multi-colored scarf stitched together with a bright green string. It wasn't a straight edge, it was all jagged and.. Well pretty awful looking. "I made you a scarf! I didnt know what your favorite color was, so I just grabbed a whole bunch of them!" Picking up her hands to brush back her hair, I saw bandages and cuts all over her hands. It was from her making this herself for me. "Wow.. I just.." Looking down at it clenching in in my hands, "This is great Kyuri, thank you." I said with a smile wrapping it around my neck. There was still a needle in it, but i pretended nothing was wrong. She put so much thought into this just for me. I wasnt faking it anymore, I loved it. "Oh good!" She said reaching out to fix it around my neck, tugging the needle further into the back of my head. "Its gunna be cold up there and you're not used to it.. So i made you a goodie." "Thank you Kyuri, It means a lot." I said with a smile, trying not to black out at the thought of the cold steel probably pressing into my brain. "And my favorite color is purple." That was the one color absent from the scarf. "DAMNIT!" Kyuri barked throwing her hands up into the air. "Well look who it is." I heard a deep voice rumble from behind me. I hadnt noticed the whole table was covered in his shadow until now. I turned to see who could even cast such a large shadow. "Been a while.. Cuddle bunny."

Due to the difficulty of the mission given to us, the guild made us pair up with another member. And of course the person they chose was someone I've already been in a fight with.. They picked Siege. He seemed bigger than i remember.. but that could have just been his armor. It was a dark medal with a golden trim. I could see the handle of his sword peek above his head, scanning the rest of him, i noticed the blade went all the way down to his feet.. On both sides of his body. He had a Greatsword, Not many people could swing these around, but if anyone could, it would be Siege. "His name is Shane." Said Kyuri sounding kind of upset. "And who do you think you are?" "Names siege." He said in a monotone voice looking down at her. "The guild set me up with you two for this. Don't worry, I'm not pleased with their decision either." After a few moments of them staring at each other shooting dirty looks, i decided to say something. As soon as I took a breath to speak, they both directed their looks at me causing my words to die and fall out of my mouth without making any sound. "He better not be a dick the whole time," Said Kyrui, turning from the table and heading back to her room in a huff, "I need to get something I forgot." leaving me with Siege. Thanks buddy, your friendship means a lot to me too. He didnt stop staring at me. My mind went blank. Jeepers he was big. What can I talk about? Before I could even say anything, another large shadow cast itself over me. "How do you know that girl little man." An even deeper voice boomed from behind. I turned slowly to see a large bald man with a thick black beard. He was just as big, if not bigger than Siege. He wore a cut off shirt showing his massive tattooed arms. "Uh.. - I um. I-D-.. uh." I mumbled. Jeez where do these people come from? I looked like a little kid between the two giants. "I see you need to get your ass kicked." Siege grumbled. "Ill leave you to it." turning around and heading to the skydocks leaving this colossal man looking down at me. "If you're going to be in this group you need to be a team player!" I squeaked at him. His only response was a wave over his shoulder. I was about level with his stomach, looking up into his bright red eyes leering, what felt like, into my soul. "You got stupid in your ears?" He roared. "How do you know that girl?" "I uh." I stammered, gathering what little courage I had. "Her name is Kyuri and we've.. Uh.. been doing some things together." "What sort of things manchild? Adult things?" Leaning closer to me almost screaming, i could smell on his breath what smelled like the victim of the last persons head he bit off. "What? no!" I said falling back onto the tables bench, "We're partners-Well not partners, more just friends of opposite genders (Nice going buddy, way to dig a deeper hole)- Um, no more like- shes my lady friend who i do things with. (oh hey look, rock bottom. Looks like ill need a pickaxe to get deeper in this one)" The rest of the things I said just kind of fell out without thinking. It made a bad situation worse. The veins in his arms and neck began to bulge and pulse with his elevating heart rate. So this is how I die. I knew it would because of something dumb I said.. And I knew it would be from Kyuri. "You got a problem buddy?" A small voice peeped from behind the seven foot tall murder machine in my face. Shocked, her turned. It was Kyrui. Oh golly woman, nice work, you distract him and ill just run until my body stops working. "Stay out of this pipsqueak, dont make me use your arm bones as toothpicks!" He barked at her. Perfect. This is my chance to crawl under the table and pretend im somewhere else. I wonder if i could make my own split personality to escape into a fantasy world.. "Pft," She scoffed "You dont have the guts." "Oh I got half a mind to-" "BRING IT ON OLD MAN!" They were really getting into it now. I was horrified. the whole canteena was just staring at us. I saw kyrui's face change she was.. Smiling? She started to laugh, as well as the huge guy. "Hi papa!" She said jumping into the now open arms of the titan. "Hi babydoll! how have you been?" he said. "Shane! get out from there he was just kidding!" Her reassuring words didnt quite coax me out from my hiding place quite yet. "Howdoyado sir." I said sticking out my arm toward him from under the table. Reaching for me, he grabbed my arm and yanked me out and gave me a huge, bone crushing hug. "Oh come now boy, dont be a stranger! Little missy here told me all about you!" I can see where Kyuri got her strange personality. "Goof-fings i hopf" it was hard to talk with my face mashed into roughly four hundred pounds of pure muscle. "Great things! You seem like quite the catch. she said you were better looking thou-" A swift elbow to the kidney cut him off. "DAD. Seriously? Just. Shut. Up.." Turning a blushed face toward the docks, "Shall we depart then?" She said marching up to the stairs. "Now, I want to hear everything about you son" He said flipping me and dropping me to my feet draping his massive arm over my shoulders and pulling me close leading me to the skyboat. "Whats your favorite color? Whats that ink on your face for? Why are you the way you are? Whats that-" I blocked him out. I could tell i wouldnt get much of a chance to speak anyway.

Turns out Kyrui's dad was a Skyboat pilot for the guild. Specifically for the tundra, he said not many people wanted to fly out there because of the creatures, distance, and how cold it was. He made me sit on the steering wheel the whole time between his massive hands, bombarding me with personal questions. Sometimes too personal. Luckily for me, Kyrui often interrupted him by throwing whatever was closest to her at him. Siege just leaned against the mast with his eyes closed, smoking his pipe. he was very quiet and reserved. I finally got a chance to think my own thoughts when her dad asked how many kids we were going to have and Kyrui threw a barrel at him and started to yell at him. I knew nothing about Siege, I didnt even know if i could rely on him if things got hairy. I just need to be more careful, i thought. I dont know if he can even pull his own weight. Which is a lot.

Sporting my wonderfully awful scarf, I stepped into the snow for the first time in my life. It was cold.. But very pretty. The thick perfectly white snow covered everything except for the huge fire in the center of the camp. "Have fun!" Yelled her dad. "Especially you two." he said pointing and winking at me and kyuri. Her face turned bright red and she bent over quickly rolling a massive snowball. She held it over her head and lobbed it on the boat, covering him and more than half the deck of the boat. "Uh, is he okay? should we dig him out?" I asked. "Hes fine. C'mon, we're doing something" Kyrui said assuming authority of this mission. "Cmon jumbo, get the lead out!" She shouted at Siege. "Maybe you can talk to your little lap dog like that, but you better be careful with how you talk to me." He said walking past us. "Keep up. Its not my fault if you die."

"Man. Hes a huge buzzkill." whispered Kyuri to me. "Why couldn't we just do this.. its not like we cant handle this ourselves.." "Do you even know what a Giginox is? Asked Siege. He heard her whisper and stopped in his tracks. "A Gigganox is the alpha for every Giggi born in its respectable area. Its about fifty feet long and can spit a harsh toxin out of both ends. It has no eyes because of its dwelling in the darkest caves and has an organ that can allow it to find its prey just off of their body heat. it can climb up walls and spew out an egg sack of Giggi within ten seconds filling an area of Giggi within minutes. Not to mention they can empty a body of all fluids in seconds if not interrupted." Turing back to walk down the trail, taking a sip of a steaming beverage from his canteen. "So no, you cant handle this on your own. Im the only thing that can keep you alive."

"Well when you say it like THAT.. Wait for us!" Shouted Kyrui grabbing my hand and pulling me behind our large guide.

This isnt going to be easy is it..


	8. Ch 8: All Sorts of Unpleasant

"Okay seriously? How did we lose him? Hes like.. ten feet tall." Asked Kyuri. We were still looking for that blasted Gigginox and following Siege, but he went too far ahead and we lost him. I hated this snow.. Living on my little island my whole life, I got used to being warm all the time. With my scarf wrapped around my head like a turban, I kept taking sips of the warm drink out of the thermos the Guild gave us in the supply crate. It really wasnt very good, but it kept (most of) us warm. It was probably her fault we got separated.. She kept on getting distracted by some of the landscape or throwing snowballs at me. "Lets check in here, maybe itll get us out of this wind too!" She shouted pointing into a large crack in a mountainside. Walking up to look into it, i noticed it was also a large cave. It was very windy and i was sort of sick of it. "Lead the way then, Let me know if you fall to your death or something." I said cockily. That probably wasnt very nice.. But i was upset with being in the snow and I just wanted to go back home." "Sure thing!" Kyrui replied with a smile and sliding feet first into the small hole. After a brief pause, she told me it was safe. Turning my back to the wall to go in like kyrui, I took a deep breath and took one last look at the beautiful frozen trees and hills. I smelled something.. It smelled rotten. It was probably nothing i thought to myself, i just need to get in this hole.

I took note of Siege's discription of the Gigginox in my hunt report. "Gigginox: Large unclassified wyvern. Size: Between 35 to 60 feet long. A Gigginox is the alpha of the Giggi herd. Capable of spewing large clouds of noxious and highly poisonous thick fluid that causes fainting and even death if left untreated. Proceed with extreme caution." I shivered re-reading the description. It sounded like a creature from someones nightmares. "LOOK AT ALL THE LITTLE BUGGERS!" i heard screeched from the far side of the cave. Kyrui found a whole slew of Giggi just sitting almost motionless clinging to the wall. "SHHHHHHHHH" I hushed running to her. "Theyre all asleep, dont wake them up! I like all my blood inside my body thank you!" I sternly whispered to kyrui as i covered her mouth. "Mfffp mmhg muh" She said. "Yeah yeah, lets just look over here and let them.. Sleep or.. whatever this is." I hated these things. Especially Kyrui's "Prince Mushy." Hate hate hate it. Sometimes it would creep into my room and cling to the ceiling above my bed and watch my sleep. Its alright though, my ear splitting and embarrassingly feminine scream let her know to come get it. Tiptoeing away from the wall of sticky creeps, they began to stir. "Crap. Look what you did" I said taking my hand off her mouth. "Now we need to be super careful and not get bit!" "Oh come on it doesnt hurt THAT bad" Kyrui reassured me. "I dont care! Its weird!" I snapped. As our argument continued, all the giggi hopped off the wall and began creeping toward us. "Hold that thought" I said placing a hushing-finger over kyuris mouth. "Gotta kill some worms." "THEYRE NOT WORMS!" she shouted. Placing my hand on one of my swords, i stood waiting for the first one to come within my range. But instead of heading toward us, they all slithered past us, toward the far side of the cave we didnt see yet. Watching them go toward the wall, a small breeze kicked up and I noticed a large hole close to the ceiling. We both turned, confused to see all the giggi now hopping up and down beneath the large hole. The breeze now became much stronger and I smelled the same rotting smell i noticed before i came into the cave. "Somethings wrong, grab your hammer." I told kyrui. She nodded and swung her hammer out in front of her, and i did the same with my blades. Out of the darkness, we heard something large fall to the ground with an unsettling splat. *What is that? can you see?* I whispered, leaning toward Kyrui. *I cant see shit dude.* She replied. *But i have an idea, hold this* *Hold wh-* Not being able to see, she extended her hammer out for me to grab.. But ya know, it was dark, so i couldnt see it. Falling with a loud crash, the hammer fell on the ground. We both stopped moving and i stopped thinking. We listened.. No sound from anywhere. Not even the giggi. Suddenly there was a small clicking sound, followed by a satisfying and warm "Fwoof." Kyrui had brought a torch with her and lit it up next to me. Tossing it on the ground in the middle of the room, she illuminated the whole cave. *Smart* *Thanks* Picking up her hammer, we stepped forward to see what that sound was. And there in front of us, was a large mammoth creature. A Popo they were called.. But it was dead. Very dead. Its whole side was torn open and was covered with small circular wounds all over its body. There was a small amount of blood on the ground from it, but I could tell it was drained.. Where the fur was torn off, you could see its skin was very pale. Almost white. *what.. did this?..* kyrui nervously whispered walking up to the large dead animal. 'Drip...Drip..' Something fell on the head of her hammer. Walking over to her, i looked at it.. It was a deep purple, thick fluid that seemed to bubble and stick to the weapon. Slowly looking up to make eye contact with Kyrui, I could tell she was scared. Her eyes were wide open and i could see a bead of sweat start to fall from her forehead even though it was cold. Her face was pale. "dont worry, its fine. We've been though worse right?" I said in a calming tone. I was horrified too, but thats not what she needed right now. Taking a quick glance up. I looked back at Kyrui and said with a small shaking in my voice. "Here's what you do," I reached out to put my hands on her shoulders. "You run outside and call for siege." "But.. What are you going to-" I have her a strong push shoving her far away from me and closer to the hole we came in. "I SAID RUN!" It seemed surreal. Almost like it all happened in slow motion. When i looked up to the ceiling, i saw a pale purple glow clinging to the roof of the cave. It was slowly moving to be directly above us. I tried to not worry her, but as i was telling her to run, the thing let go and began to fall what would have been straight on our heads. Using the push to give myself some momentum, i moved us both out of the way as the large grey creature fell with a crash onto the ground before us, facing me. Its large round mouth was coated in blood and dripping. It was breathing very deep. It smelled like rotting flesh was right in front of me. The torch illuminated the cave well enough to see its movements and be able to track its movements. Smart thinking Kyrui. Arching its back and taking a deep breath, the creature unleashed a loud, ungodly roar, causing icicles to fall. Using this moment to my advantage, I rolled to Kyrui, picked her up and shoved her toward the cave entrance pointing. She couldn't hear me shouting at her over the Gigginox's blood curdling screech. She was frozen with fear for a few minutes, but jumping in front of her and making eye contact seemed to help as she nodded and ran for the sunlight pouring through the small hole in the wall.

With Kyuri far enough away from the creature, I now had its full attention. It was strange, it had no eyes like the Giggi, but it somehow looked straight at me. With both my swords clenched tightly in each hand, I reached up to put my scarf over my mouth. It probably wouldnt work, but I thought maybe it would keep the poison out of my lungs slightly better. Without any warning, it began to charge straight for me. With very little time, i just barely dove to the side, causing it to run close to my side. but to my surprise, it whipped around its large tail causing me to be knocked back a few feet. it was fast for a creature its size. Thats when i noticed it was backing into me. Thinking it was going to try to body slam me again, i rolled backwards on to my feet only to notice a large round opening filled with small jagged teeth. It had another mouth on its tail? that doesnt make any bloody sense. But sure enough, it took a quick jab toward my chest. It felt like all of its small teeth pierced my chest at once. thats going to leave a weird scar i thought to myself as i got pounded into the wall behind me. The wound gave a strange burning sensation.. Swinging its large tail around in my direction again, I ducked and came up with a small jump to give my swing a little more power. I caught the base of its tail with both of my blades and took a small chunk of its rubbery flesh with it. Letting out a loud yelp, i took this moment to run and slide underneath the creature on my back looking up at its chest. It walked low, so laying down was the best way i could get a view at it. It had two large purple pockets of thin flesh on each of its sides. "These look important!" I shouted making fast, repetitive jabs on one of the purple sides. I Stabbed as fast as i could and sunk my metal into as much of the area as i could, it hurt the beast, because it arched its back and rolled over away from me. As i stabbed, it wasnt blood that poured out.. It was the same purple fluid that fell onto Kyruis hammer. Not taking the time to stop causing as much damage as possible, i let the goop cascade my chest area. Boy i hope she finds siege fast.. this thing sucks. Writhing on its back, i took my time getting to my feet. Something was wrong. I felt dizzy and weak.. I began to see double and my body began to feel numb. I couldnt feel my hands and accidentally dropped one of my swords. "Whats going on?" I mumbled to myself looking at my hand. My arms were covered with the sticky purple liquid. "POISON!" I shouted in shock. I dropped my second sword and started frantically trying to wipe it off. It was clinging but didnt get underneath my armor.. That when i noticed the blood. I was scraping it off my chest when i remembered the bite the got though my chest plate. That must have been how it reacted to me so fast. It was strange.. I was bleeding, but it didnt hurt anymore. Suddenly i noticed i was looking up toward the ceiling and something was being poured into my mouth. As soon as i swallowed, i could feel my body again. Especially my chest. Trying to make sense of what happened, my vision straightened and i saw kyuri standing above me with an empty jar. It had spilled all over my face because i couldn't feel the pale blue concoction being poured into my mouth. "Are you okay? I made a few of the anti-toxins before we left!" "yeah its cool, just got kinda dizzy" I replied. I didnt want to tell her about the searing pain i felt. Giving me a small smile, she grabbed her hammer and ran toward the creature, who was now getting back to its feet. It took a moment before I regained full control of my body again, but as i struggled to my knees, I looked up to see Kyrui going for a strong smash on the Gigginox's head with her hammer. Making a strange, squish and crashing sound, she drilled its head into the ground causing the back end of its body to fling up into the air. I had very little time, so i grabbed the one sword i could find and lept toward the creature. Its back end was positioned right at kyrui, and before i could say anything, it shot a large purple glob that knocked her back far off her feet Followed by what looked like a somersault and a jab at her side throwing her into the far wall. Thats when i remembered that i had a flash bomb. Pepe, showed me how to make them. Reaching into my bag, i threw the small round object at its face and covered my eyes. A high pitched explsion followed by a blinding light caused it to fall back away from kyrui. Didnt have eyes.. or ears.. But it still worked. Allllrighty then. I ran to the side of kyuri and noticed how bad of shape she was in. She hit her head pretty hard on the rocky wall of the cave and was covered like i was in the purple goo. I started wiping off as much as i could in a panic. "Watch it pervert.. Im still awake" She said quietly. "Oh shut up, im just trying to help." I replied, relieved that she was still awake. "Youre an idiot, i told you to get siege." "I was," she said "But then i noticed your ass getting handed to you so i came back." Letting out a short nervous laugh i looked down. I was afraid i wouldnt be able to make it to the camp carrying her in time. The poison reacted too fast with me.. "Dont worry about it" she said. "Its cool, just wait a second." "How am i supposed to wait?" I said sitting her up against the wall of the cave. "I know how that feels! we need to get going! Im sort of font of you.. Id like it if you stayed around a little longer.." Seriously dude, Its totally fine though." She said kissing me on the cheek. "Look" she said extending a shaky arm to the opening. Thats when i saw a group of Felynes. I forgot that They come to cart your sorry self away if you get too wounded to move. They ran to kyrui shoving me away and picking her up onto a cart with great speed. "That tastes really gross by the way" Said Kyrui as she was carted out of the room within seconds. Whew.. im glad she'll be okay i thought as i turned to see the gigginox standing above me. I wish i could say the same about myself though.. And suddenly as quick as a flash, something flew across the room and stuck into the side of the creatures 'Head' It took a moment before i realized that it was my other sword.

"See? I told you that you needed me" I heard a voice boom from the darkness.


	9. Ch 9: All Sorts of Unpleasant Pt 2

Whatever hit the creature in front of me hit it hard enough to take it off its feet and flip it over on its side. Standing in shock, I tried my best to wrap my mind around what just happened, and through the darkness, I saw a faint sheen of metal. And there, sticking out of the side of the Gigginox's head, was my other sword. "See? I told you that you needed me"I heard from the darkness. "Well look who decided to show up." I grumbled, "We thought you died already." Siege began to run toward the writhing monster on the ground before me. "Just shut up and not be worthless for once in your life!" he shouted, drawing the colossal blade from his back and leaping to make a downward slash. Worthless?.. Me?.. hogwash. I'm delightful, I reassured myself as i took a deep breath and ran to pull my blade from the monsters head. Sharp pain reminded me to be careful, Im already wounded and id rather not.. ya know, die. As I grabbed the handle of my weapon, Siege had began his assault. with a metallic hum, his blade cut through the air, chopping down on one of the Gigginox's wings. I'm glad I had a firm grip, his attack caused serious damage and cut through the webbing of its right wing and caused it to lurch back in pain. The quick motion of the creature threw me almost straight up above it. I grabbed a stalactite out of instinct. Far below me, I saw siege and the monster attacking and defending. Siege knew what he was doing, but unfortunately, so did the Gigginox. With one quick motion, it took a jab at Siege, much like what it did to me, but he blocked it with his sword. Due to its size, He couldn't see around it and left himself blind to its next attack. Moving his blade aside, it was too late. The creature had already stood up on its hind legs and flopped directly on top of him with a crash. "SIEGE! YOU OKAY?" i shouted from my safe location.. No response. I didn't know what to do, it was too far too fall without hurting myself.. all i have is my swords and this stupid rock im holding on too.. A smile crept over my face. "Siege! if you can hear me you may want to curl up or something! its about to get bumpy!" Putting one sword back into its sheath on my side, I used the other to hit the base of the stalactite. My brilliant plan was to chip it off so the rock would fall on the creature. Giggling to myself as it hit the stone with all my might, i could see a crack start to form. Creaking and cracking, i knew my idea was working. Perfect, I reached out to grab another hanging rock, but nothing was there.. I didn't think it out very well. All the other stones were too far away, leaving me stranded on it. "Aw nuts.." a large crunch sounded and before i knew it, me and my sanctuary were sent careening toward the back of the beast. I tried to be brave, but in situations like that, you learn how high your voice gets when you really scream. My feminine squeal made the Gigginox stop squishing Siege and look up to see what all the fuss was. Only to get a face-full of big, heavy rock and a screaming, tear soaked Shane. Direct hit, my little rock idea hit the creature in the face and exploded into stone and blood. I had hit its back and bounced off to hit the ground a few feet away. I wish i knew it was bouncy before i did that.. That was awful. Still covering my head and whimpering, i felt something nudge me. I looked to to see Siege pushing on me with his foot. "Hey Shane?" He said looking down at me. Oh boy here we go, I braced myself for praise. Goodness buddy, you're so smart! I'm sorry i called you stupid and stuff lets be friends! I could picture him saying. looking up to him with a smile, i replied "yes?" and awaited my reward. "You're an Idiot." He growled as he extended his tree trunk of an arm down to help me up. Eh, close enough. Helping me to my feet I stood to admire my handiwork. I felt my body to make sure everything was in place. Something was wrong.. "My scarf!" I shouted abruptly. I began to scurry around in the darkness looking for my present. "Oh this ratty old thing?" Siege asked as he extended his sword. And there wrapped on his hilt, was my awful wonderful scarf. "I picked it up a while ago, figured i could use it as a blood-rag. but you can have it back i guess." Unwrapping it from his sword and tossing it toward me, i felt relived. Not just because i got to be warm again, but also so Kyrui wouldn't make me another one. I'm not sure she could survive another.. After wrapping the scarf snugly around my neck, i turned to take a look at the Gigginox. Its head was smashed into the ground with the large stone and its legs and wings were outstretched. it wasn't moving. "Is it dead?.." I asked Siege as he walked up to it. "Not sure, that's what this is for." He grabbed the handle of his sword and positioned himself above its neck, like he was about to chop some wood. "Woah woah woah, what are you doing? its probably dead just leave it alone." I said as i held up my hand and walked toward him. "Probably? Probably isnt good enough. We're getting paid to kill this thing." Raising his large sword above his head. "And I intend to get paid."

"wow.." I mumbled as we stumbled through the snow back to the camp. "Oh get over it," Siege barked. "Taking off a head is the best way to ensure demise." "Well yeah but.." I said as i looked down to look at myself again. "Don't you think you that was a little excessive?" "Well I told you not to stand so close!" he yelled. He was right I guess.. I stood far to close to the fallen creature as Siege.. Uh.. Borrowed.. Its head. I was completely covered in blood and i was sure my armor would be permanently stained red. "Get off of me!" we heard from the distance. "Hold on.. Isn't that your girlfriend?.. where was she?" Asked Siege as he stopped to listen. "Shes not my girlfriend. But yes that's her.. Somethings wrong, lets go!" I shouted as i ran past him. I hadn't thought about it, but she was gone for a long time.. Something must have gotten her as she tried to come back. Running as fast as i could, i heard her voice struggling with something near camp, as i turned the corner of the large snow drift before our camp I saw her. On the ground.. Wrapped up.. By her father. "You'll have to kill me before I let you go out there again!" He growled from the ground. He had her in a headlock. "THAT COULD BE ARRANGED" She screamed as she wrestled with him. Whew.. just a protective pa. Not a monster. "YOU!" He roared as he saw me. Okay, maybe a little bit monster too. Piking her up and throwing her over his shoulder, he stomped toward me. "it was your fault wasn't it, why didn't you do something?" Jeepers. I didn't know I could sweat so much so fast. "Wait sir, i tried my best she saved my life!" I said stepping back away from him. I bumped into something. "What did you do Shane?" it said. looking up, i saw Siege towering over me looking down. He looked angry. "Um. She got poisoned.. and she got taken back by the Felynes.." I said, still beneath him looking up. His face changed, anger turned to rage "So you let her get hurt and did nothing to stop it?!" He shouted, stepping into me, knocking me to the ground in front of Kyruis father. "You didnt do anything? And you let her get so wounded she had to be taken from you?! you don't deserve to be a hunter!" Reaching down to grab my scarf, he pulled me off my feet and up to his face, leaving my legs to dangle in the cold breeze. "What if those cats weren't here? she would have died and it would have been all your fault!" Reaching his arm back and making a fist, I braced for impact. His punch hurt almost as much as his words, sending me into the snow drift back first and facing him. It would have been my fault and mine alone. I was stupid and didnt know what to do in a panic."Im sorry.. I tried my best! I didn't know what to do!" I shouted back, hands shaking. I could feel blood begin to pour from my nose. In a fury, he took large steps, stomping in the snow making another fist. "Ease off Siege!" A small voice peeped. He stopped and turned to kyuri's father. He stood with a blank face and slowly shook his head pointing to his shoulder. Kyuri was still draped over his shoulder and we could only see her legs, her upper half was on his other side. "Im fine its not a big deal! we'll just be more careful! it was sort of my fault anyway!" she continued. "Shut up girl! this isn't about you!" He shouted as he turned to face me again. "Uh, unless I'm mistaken, It sort of is about me.. Isn't it?.." she questioned, still facing the other direction leaving her legs facing us. Siege stopped in his tracks, still staring at me. But something happened, it seemed like he wasn't really looking at me, but lost in thought. "We're done here." He said turning to walk toward the skyboat. "Lets go" Me laying in the snow, Kyuri over the shoulder of her father, and her pa all sat in silence for a minute. "Its okay son," He finally said to me "I was just going to scare you a little bit but I think he scared you more than I could. Don't worry about it, shes okay now." Reaching a helping hand down to me "C'mon, lets take you kids home." "Jeez, whats his damage.." Kyuris legs questioned. Kyuris pa walked faster than me. I walked slowly thinking on what Siege said. With me trailing behind, she could finally see me.

"AND WHY ARE YOU COVERED IN BLOOD?"


	10. Ch 10: His Damage

It's times like this that remind me why I must seem so cold and distant from everyone I meet. I want to lighten up, but my past wont let me.. My response to fear or danger, is rage. It has been sense then. Its not like it was Shane's fault.. That bubbly girl and him seem to be good friends. I wish I had what they had, but I cant. And probably never will. As I stand here on the Skyboat with Shane and Kyrui, I try my best to relax, so ill head below deck and try to rest.. Even though I know my dreams wont let me. "Siege!" Kyrui's father yelled. "Nice work out there buddy!" I wanna say thank you, I want to let him know that I'm glad he thinks I did well. But a nod is all I can give him. I've spent so long worrying about the welfare of others, but i can show is anger. I lay my head on the bedroll pillow below and rest.. The dream started the same as it always does. Back to when I was a child..

My family all grew up in the Flooded Forests. I had a very large family, and I was the eldest brother. Three sisters, and 4 brothers. My father was a fighter in his younger days, but an injury took him out of that scene. It was probably for the best.. His profession worried my mother. His last opponent shattered his shoulder in the middle of the fight, and he never quite came back from it. Being the oldest son, I took it upon myself to work for my family. Luckily for me, there was no shortage of work in the forests. Fishermen lived very lavish lifestyles due to the amount of fish you could catch. I wasn't as close to my mother as I liked to be.. I was always very busy and got into trouble. My father was a very large man, and many say I took after him. Because of my size, many other children tried to pick fights with me to prove they were stronger. I often let them win, just so they could feel better about themselves. It was a different case with my siblings though.. If any of them had any problems with bullies or things like that, I put an end to them. Violently. Because of my defending of my brothers and sister, I was taken out of school and devoted all my time to work. I would get picked on quite a bit because of my lack of intelligence. Even though I was big, and people thought they couldnt hurt me, i would become very upset when they would insult my lack of schooling. My father was also removed from school as a child because of fighting, so he would talk to me try to cheer me up.

We lived close to the deep water, because it was easier for me to go out to fish that way. My parents moved to help me out a little. As a family project, we all pitched in and build a large fish hatchery in a netted portion of the water where we could farm our own fish. My parents dream was to one day have a successful business where we would never have to travel far to get work. Every so often, the alarm would sound because of a large monster scare and the guild would have to send out hunters to take care of it. Most of the time, it was just a pack of Ludroth, or maybe a Gobul; but on the worst days it would be a Lagiacrus. If I knew the worst day was going to be that day, I would have stayed home with them all..

My mother and I got in an argument early that morning. My youngest sister had a "boyfriend" and I threatened to kill him.. I was joking of course, but his parents thought otherwise and alerted my parents. I became upset, and stomped out of the house. I had a place I would go if I was ever upset. It was a large fallen tree that arched over a rushing creek. I would watch the fish swim upstream during the spawning season, and it always distracted me from whatever was going on. I said some awful things to my mother in a rage.. I sat there for a few hours, thinking about it and after I cooled off, I felt really bad. It was a far walk, so I had a while to rehearse my apology. If I ever made my mother upset, I would have to get through my father first. He was very protective of her feelings.. I planned on dealing with him once i got there. "Im sorry ma, I was stupid." Nah, to simple. "You were right, threatening the life of a possible boyfriend for-" No that sounds stupid.. i should probably refrain from bringing up the whole possible murder thing.. The sharp piercing sound of the large monster alarm stopped me.

I thought nothing of it. Most of the time, It was nothing.. But the rumbling ground made me think otherwise. A large.. Thing hit me in the back, knocking me into the mud, causing my face to be covered and i began to choke. I had picked myself up just fast enough to wipe off my face and see a large, light blue tail trail behind a massive creature behind some large trees. It was heading in the direction of my house. I panicked, and begin calling for my family and running home. I heard my brothers and sisters begin to call out for our parents. Something was very wrong. Pushing the last of the thick bushes out of my way, my house came into view. And there it was. A massive Lagiacrus slithering over the house. Its massive legs crushed part of it as it crawled over the roof. It must have come smelling the fish.. Because of me being out sulking alone, my father had to haul out some of the fish from our fishery by himself.

I had never felt so helpless. I turned and cowered behind a large rock.. It hadn't noticed me yet. I could hear screaming from inside the house.. Someone must had been where the creature had stepped though the roof. My mother was trying to calm down my sibling and trying to lead them out of the large hole in the house.. All but two were there. My two youngest sisters were nowhere to be seen. I was just close enough to see tears streaming down my mothers face.. Had something happened to them? Also my father.. Where was he? The creature was on the backside of the house now, and i could no longer see it.. And then i heard a loud crash. My father had been thrown though the wall with a large sword. It was almost as large as he was. Because of the way he was thrown, the sword bounced and began to spin quickly in the air, and fell on the ground just before my father.. and underneath him. His scream, gargled with blood, snapped me back into reality. He had landed on the blade, next to my mother and siblings. They all ran over to him, my mother leading the way, screaming his name and crying loudly. He held out his hand to stop her, and began to stand up.. The large blade had cut though his back, and down the length of his side, but somehow he managed to pull himself to his feet, blood pouring from his mouth. Some of my siblings didnt know what to do, and stood quiet in shock. The rest just burst out in tears and screams. My mother tried to pull on his arm, attempting to lead him into the trees, but he stood firm, and bent down to pick up the sword again. The Lagiacrus' large head wrapped around the side of the house, its face terribly wounded, and cut. My father had tried to defend everyone but only ended up pissing it off.

I could hear him trying to talk, but only sputters of blood and coughs came from his mouth. My mother wept, and covered her face. He tried lifting the sword into a fighting stance, but his shoulder wouldn't allow it. He never got the tip of the blade off the ground.. I was helpless, but i had to do something. I ran toward them, unable to make any sound. I ran as fast as i could behind my father, trying not to look at his greatly wounded back. Grabbing the handle of the sword from his weak, shaking hands, i charged the creature. I heard nothing. All I could think of was defending my family. With the blade dragging on the ground behind me, I swung with all my might, over my head, and onto the chest of the beast. I wasn't as strong as i am now. The blade cut though the scales, but stopped halfway in, leaving the sword stuck in its chest. It didn't seem hurt at all, and just looked down on my with piercing red eyes. I froze with fear, holding on to the handle. And that's when it happened. Rearing its head back, i could feel it take a deep breath. I heard shouts from my mother. I turned to see her an image that would forever be burned into my mind. My father had collapsed, with my brothers and sisters kneeling around him. My mother was standing, arm outstretched toward me, telling me to run. She was covered in the blood of my father. I looked up to the face of the creature just above me. Blue sparks began to jump from is mouth and back. Letting out a deep, horrible roar, lightning began to leap from it, striking everything around me. The sword, still stuck in its chest, was made of pure steel. And for those who may not know, metal conducts electricity. Horrible searing pain scorched my arm and up my neck. I could feel my skin burn and burst. The surge of its electricity was dulled, because of the sword being connected to it. My muscles stopped working. I couldn't move, and all i felt was horrible, sharp, surging pain throughout my whole body, especially my arm that got drastically burned.

Everything went dark and i fell to the ground. The flesh of my hand was so burned, that only the weight of my body tumbling to the ground was enough to release my grasp of the metal handle. I awoke to the sound of birds. I tried to call out, but the electricity was still surging though my body. Something helped me up. In a seated position on the wet, muddy ground, a fisherman asked me if i was alright. I said nothing. He and his group of workers were walking though the area when they came across me. My eyes widened, and i began to shake. "my family.. where are they.." I asked as i began to look around. They all stood around me trying to calm me down. "No hang on a second son, we need to tell you something" one said. "Please just wait" said another. My strength returned to me and i shoved them all away. And that's when I saw them. My family, all laying on the ground. I rolled to my stomach and began to crawl toward them. They were all gone, there was no doubt about it. My siblings were all laying around my father, they hadn't moved sense i last saw them. But my mother was in a different place. She was much closer to me than before, and laying, arm extended to my direction. Even after our fight, all of the horrible things i said to her, she still tried to help me. I reached out my arm to her, and grabbed onto her hand. "Mom.. I just came to say sorry.." I said, face still down on the ground. "I didn't mean those things I said.. Please say you forgive me.." There was no sound. Even the birds stopped chirping. "Please say you forgive me.." I said again, voice beginning to shake and tears streaming from my eyes. "Please.. Say something mom.. Please.. I'm sorry.." The fishermen came to me to try to pull me away from her.. from my laying position, I turned to kick one of them. I broke his leg, kicking him just above the knee causing his leg to invert. "I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL SHE SAYS SHE FORGIVES ME!" I shouted, my voice overpowering the mans cries of pain.

A brief conversation was had among them and one came up to me again. "Son, you hurt one of our friends and he needs help. You cant stay here alone.. We need to take him away, but we'll be back for you, okay?.." He asked. I said nothing back to him. I hadn't let go of my mothers hand. I needed a doctor as well, my arm had begin to get infected and the pain was almost overwhelming. As they carried their sobbing friend away, i began to weep. My entire family was gone, and I just stood by, afraid to move. I curled my legs up beside me and lay next to my mother. I knew she was gone.. But i couldn't accept the last conversation we had. I was filled with nothing but guilt and sadness. Even my father, who couldn't even hold a sword, tried and died defending them. I made a promise to my mother that night. I would never let anything bad happen to anyone as long as i could still move.

And that's when I wake up. There's that split second just after you wake up where the world hasn't pressed on your soul and you have a brief moment of amnesia. And then it all rushes back and you remember everything. Where you are, what day it is, who you are, and what you've been though. "Siege" He said, "We're here.. And look about what happened to Kyuri.." "Forget it." I interrupted him. I wanted to tell him not to worry about it, it happens sometimes. I just wanted to tell him to be more careful in the future. But as i thought on my words, I thought about my family. And the words that followed were not kind. "If you do anything that stupid again" I concluded, "I'll kill you myself." I was worried I had gone too far.. Was that too much to say to him? Will he just be afraid and leave like everyone else I had been with?" He laughed. "Sounds good to me." He said extending out his hand, "You would probably scare me to death if you did that to me again. Again, I'm sorry. Are we cool?" I just looked at him. This Shane guy was pretty alright. I wanted to smile, but my body wouldn't let me. A simple handshake was all i could offer him. "aaay alright" He cackled, "Ill go get you something to eat.. I'm just worried your'e gunna order like, an entire pig or something. Can you even do that? I wonder how much that would cost.." he continued to ask himself similar questions. If there's anything i noticed about Shane, its that he couldn't shut up if he ever got nervous.

I really hope he doesn't screw up again. Id hate to have to kill him.


	11. Ch 11: It Couldn't Be That Hard

It took a few days and a few heart-filled apologies to Kyuri's father before he would stop glaring at me. And a few more until he accepted. Siege was upset with me too, so as soon as we got back to the canteena, I offered to buy him his dinner. The man eats like a horse. Also when I get nervous, I realize I have a hard time shutting up..

Using the toxins we brought back from the Gigginox, I made new poison infused swords. Coming from experience, I knew that it would greatly help my future hunts if I could poison a few creatures, even just a little bit. "Hey, look at this flier!" Kyuri exclaimed with a mouthful of food, excitedly spitting pieces of meat and bread across the table, leaving Siege and I covering our faces. Holding up a piece of paper from the notice board near our table, she explained. "They're having a contest in the volcano! Apparently they use these.. 'Powder stone' things for the blacksmiths furnace." She held the flier closer to her face. "Money rewards will be given to the group who brings the best quality stones!" Slamming both hands on the table, startling Siege and I, she leaned toward us with mechanical determination. "We have to do this guys.. I've always wanted to go to the Volcano.." "Why would I go with you idiots." Siege said, not even looking up from his meal. "You two are worthless. That was a one time thing." "Oh come on. Please." peeped Kyuri, her intensity gone. "Besides, you're stuck with us forever. I almost died. You owe me this one." "Oh please! That's not a thing!" He barked. "Is too!" Kyuri smugly replied. "Now I need to go get some money from the pops, you two get ready!" Waving as she ran off, leaving me and Siege in her dust. "That's not a thing.. Is it?.." Siege turned to ask me. I just shrugged. "There's really no point in fighting it. You're stuck with us for life." I said. Siege just stood, dumbfounded looking at me. "Foooor liiiiiiifffffeeee~.." I repeated quietly.

The rules were simple; Bring the Powderstone, or stones, back to the designated safe area in the allowed time. Groups of two to four hunters allowed, and the stone worth the most money wins a reword. I was alright with this, we had been doing horribly dangerous missions lately, and this seemed more like a game than anything. There was even a sign in table. Kyuri, Siege, and myself were the last of five groups to sign up. How dangerous could carrying a bunch of stupid rocks be anyway?

Riding the Skyboat wasn't fun toward the volcano. Black smoke covered the skies and made it hard to breathe. Our pilot had goggles and a mask that helped him to breathe. It would have been nice if we ALL got one.. My anger was suddenly halted when we began our decent to the guilds volcano skydock. A part in the black clouds let me see the beautiful landscape. A lush green forest was our destination for landing. Tall trees reached up to meet us. An ocean swept from the west, and following the coast, met up to a large stone clearing. Getting closer to the smokey mountain, all trees and wildlife had been burned leaving a desolate area leading up to the base of the volcano. The ocean stuck the side of the dead, stony area causing steam to rise up into the skies. I could tell it was very hot leading up to the cave opening to enter the volcano. Using the guild-given map, I quickly scribbled the shortest and hopefully most effective route to the location of the Powderstones. "Here's the plan." Kyuri suddenly exclaimed with a clap, snapping me out of my deep thought. "We'll all split up and scramble for the stones as fast as we can. We'll all grab one and meet back at the finish. Get it? Got it? Good." "That's a horrible idea." Said Siege. "If we're all split up, then what will happen if another hunter tracks you down and attacks you, causing you to lose your stone? We need to stay together." "They cant attack you.. can they?" she asked. "It doesn't say you can in the rules.." "It also doesn't say you cant now does it." Siege added. "Hes right Kyuri." I said, surprisingly siding with Siege. "We should all stay together and maybe have one person without a stone to protect the others." Kyuri looked and her feet. "Yeah that idea is way better.." She mumbled kicking a small rock. "You two carry the stones, Ill cover you." Siege proclaimed. "I don't trust either of you with protecting me."

Stepping off the Skyboat to the guild camp, large bright red flags caught my attention. A few members of the guild stood next to a large gong behind two large posts with the flags dancing in the breeze on top. This was the start and the finish line. We were the last group to show up, so everybody was already on the starting line looking over their own preparations. As we got to our position, i also looked into my bag to make sure I was all set. We were told it would be super hot where we were going, but where we were standing felt fine. "Do you have something cold to sip on?" Kyuri asked me while digging though her own supplies. "No I dont. But its fine, its not as hot as i thought." I responded with a smile. Kyuri just looked at me with a shocked expression. "But what about when we get to the v-" "No, No. Let him figure it out on his own." Siege interrupted. "Groups, to their positions!" The guild announcer proclaimed from her stand with a large mallet in hand. "So we all know what we're doing right?" I asked. "Yeah yeah." Kyrui said, joining me at the starting line. "We all go together and you and I carry the thingies and big guy protects something blah blah blah." "More or less." Siege said standing next to me. "Keep up with me. Im not going to go slow just for you two."

"GO!" The guildette shouted, spinning around with large mallet in hand, she crashed the gong letting a loud metallic ring fill the air. Picking up my leg to make a speedy get away, I noticed something was wrong. I tried to lift my leg and only ended up falling flat on my face, leaving me in the dust of everyone. "Shane! What are you doing?!" Siege scolded. I was confused. I had no idea what happened.. Looking down at my boots, I noticed something. My feet were tied together with a loose fitting knot. Someone had sabotaged me. Looking up at the sprinting crowd, a pair of hunters caught my eye. They were laughing. Just as I cut my legs free and began to take off, I noticed Kyuri was on the ground too, with the same problem as me. With knife in hand, I ran up to her and cut her rope. They want to play dirty? Fine, Ill play dirty. "Siege! Kyuri! Follow me I have an idea!" Running along the path were many dead, or dying trees. We were getting much closer to the volcano now. Wow, it was getting kind of warm over here. Taking a different path, we had got just ahead of the large group. "Alright guys, follow my lead." I said overlooking a large hill to see the group clawing and fighting each other. "You guys have good balance right?" I added. They just looked at me confused. Taking a few steps back, I took aim at a dead tree hanging over the edge. "Oh no." Said Kyuri." "Oh yes." I replied with a smile. Running as fast as i could, I charged the tree. Leading my my shoulder and a jump, I tackled the tree toward the top and unhinged it from the ground. "Your guy is so stupid." Said Siege as he and Kyrui walked to the edge of the steep hill to see me riding the tree like a sled toward the path of the other hunters. "Im not doing that." "Speak for yourself!" She responded, face lit up like a Christmas tree. "THAT LOOKS AWESOME!" Then charging toward another tree she shouted, "HEAVE HO!" Following me with a dead tree toboggan.

I had aimed it just right, My tree had fallen right in the path of the other hunters, they were in a small gorge with very high stone walls, and I had wedged my ride right against both walls, making it almost impossible to pass. I had to jump off at the last second causing me to hit the wall in a seated position. Whew. Im glad the others didn't follow me. I would have never gotten out of the way in tim- My inner dialogue was interrupted by kyuri being thrown directly into me and knocking the wind out of me. Her tree had wedged right next to mine causing an inescapable roadblock. "Well hey there hott stuff." She said jokingly while still laying across my lap. "Come here often?" I couldn't respond. She hit me so hard and crushing me against the wall, i was amazed i hadn't blacked out. A sharp piercing scream caught our attention. As we looked for the source. Little did we know it was flying straight at us. Siege had decided to grow a pair and follow my lead. Flying through the air just as we had done, he landed on Kyuri, causing for even more impact to me. As we lay there in the dust and quiet, and with me barely holding onto consciousness, the silence was broken by Kyuri. "So. Dont care much for things like that huh" She asked Siege. "Shut up." He responded. "Oh I think we killed Shane by the way."

I had to be carried for a little while, as I regained my strength, I began to sweat. "There, hes up. Im done." Mumbled Siege as he threw me to the ground. We were inside the volcano now, and pools of lava collected on the edges of the cave. "You could have just set me down.." I said stumbling to my feet. "I know." He said. "That made me feel better though." Taking a look around, we realized this was the location of the powderstones. "What do they even look like?" Asked Kyrui. "They're large black oval stones that feel like they're on fire." Replied siege. "Like this" He added pointing to the far side of the cave. The wall was covered with large black oval stones lining the wall. walking up to them, Siege made a quick assessment to try to find the best ones. "Right here." He said, walking up to the wall. "Okay great," Kyuri said throwing her arms down to her sides. "They're in the wall. How are we supposed to get them out?" Siege took one stone in hand and pulled on it with all his might. Letting out a satisfying pop, the stone gave way releasing a hiss of steam. They were large indeed. Being about 3 feet from top to bottom "Here" he said setting in it my hands. Also very heavy. And he was right, it felt like the stones were on fire, causing me to move my hands to a cooler position. "I changed my mind." I said, sweat crawling from my forehead. "You carry this and ill cover you." "Grow up." Siege barked handing Kyuri her stone. "Just run back fast and you can put it down."

I liked that plan. Siege led the way while me and Kyrui followed behind. The weight and size of the hot stones made it difficult to walk. And because of the heat, i kept on re-positioning my hands. But the awkwardness of it all didnt keep me from trying to speed up. It was so unbelievably hot, it felt like the longer i would hold it, the more fierce the burns i would receive. While i was complaining to myself, I failed to notice the large crack in the ground. Kyrui and Siege stepped over it, but i tripped, causing me to fall down onto the powderstone. it bounced off the ground, and proceeded to roll into a pool of lava. "Why do you keep falling?" Siege Yelled. He was right.. This is just not my day.. "I'm sorry! Your'e doing a bad job of leading! I didn't see the massive crevasse on the ground!" I snapped, trying to defend myself. "Massive?!" Siege shouted. "ITS LIKE TWO INCHES ACROSS!" "Guys seriously." Kyuri said calmly. "I'm dying here. This thing is like, a thousand degrees." We turned to look at her sweat soaked face. "Shes right." Siege said, "Ill take her back to the line, you go fix your mistake." Before I could think of anything witty, they were gone, leaving me to turn and try to find a new stone alone.

As I grumbled to myself, I found myself looking at the wall lined with powderstones. I have no idea what a good one is, i thought to myself. I decided to go for the biggest one. Scanning the wall, i noticed something strange. There was a large crack in the ground where there wasnt before. As I stared at the fissure, a large rumble caused the crack to widen. The rumbling had gotten so fierce, I had to hold the wall to retain my balance. A brief pause in shaking was followed by a large crash as something crawled from the hole in the ground. A thick cloud of dust veiled the identity of the creature. But it was very large. Larger than anything i had seen before. Only seeing its shape from the dust, it turned to face me.

Why must everything I do end up threatening to kill me?..


End file.
